LOS ANGELES -- On a Shohei Ohtani start day, one of the biggest spectacles comes not when he's on the mound, nor when he's at the plate, but as he's transitioning from one to the other. When Ohtani finishes an inning on the mound, he has just two minutes to

PHOENIX -- Welcome to the big leagues, Jose Fernandez. In his Major League debut, Fernandez delivered a pair of homers, including what proved to be the game-winner in the eighth inning as the Diamondbacks rallied for a 7-5 win over the Tigers.

Every baseball game counts the same, obviously, but for certain teams, teams who may be at particularly pivotal points in their franchise’s, let’s say, competitive window, the beginning of the season is of particular importance. The next month, April, can set the tone: Win big, and the rest of the

SEATTLE -- Max Fried had plenty to block out before his Opening Night start, a made-for-streaming production with yellow cabs and San Francisco cable cars parked beyond the dugouts, plus fireworks that left a haze over the ballpark. This time, there were no distractions -- just pitching. And that suited

PHILADELPHIA -- Andrew Painter stepped out of the Phillies’ dugout shortly before 6 p.m. on Tuesday. He was less than an hour from his highly anticipated MLB debut. The fans that noticed him at Citizens Bank Park applauded as he walked to the bullpen to begin the final preparations for

BALTIMORE -- Not many pitchers attempt pickoff throws on Pete Alonso, who is by no means a speedster. The Polar Bear isn’t typically expecting it, especially not on a full-count pitch. So when it happened on Tuesday night -- with the toss coming from his former Mets teammate Jacob deGrom,

The first official challenge of the ABS era came from a Yankees batter on Opening Night, when José Caballero challenged a Logan Webb called strike in the fourth inning. He was wrong, but it also shouldn’t have been Caballero who ended up being the answer to the trivia question. It

TORONTO -- One month ago, we were wondering how Max Scherzer could even fit onto this roster. Today, where would the Blue Jays be without him? For the next decade, we’ll point back to the 2026 Blue Jays as the case study for pitching depth. You can never, ever have

ST. LOUIS -- For the second night in a row at Busch Stadium, a Cardinals starter pitched into the sixth inning but saw his outing screech to a halt before he could record an out in the frame. Andre Pallante cruised through five innings before the heart of the Mets’

LOS ANGELES -- As Yoshinobu Yamamoto sat in front of his locker in the home clubhouse at Dodger Stadium, a few of his teammates approached him, holding pens and Tuesday's giveaway item, a Yoshi bobblehead. They wanted Yamamoto's signature on the lovable green dinosaur who shares part of his name.

BALTIMORE -- It hasn’t been how Jacob deGrom wanted to start the season. First deGrom was scratched from his season debut, which was originally scheduled for last Saturday in Philadelphia, due to neck stiffness.

Terry Francona garners a lot of respect and admiration across the baseball industry, especially with the players he coaches. The Reds might have taken that admiration to another level this season. Catcher Tyler Stephenson gifted his manager some custom swimwear with a young Francona’s face on it in the Reds'

Opening Day marks a new era for the longstanding relationship between MLB and ESPN. Though ESPN is no longer the home for “Sunday Night Baseball” (now on NBC) or the Home Run Derby (now on Netflix), the sports broadcasting network is actually bringing fans more baseball than ever.

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MILWAUKEE -- After waiting 972 days between Major League starts, Shane McClanahan was back in every way Tuesday night. On the mound, he was poised and in control. His four-pitch mix was on point. He was anxious and excited, sure, as you would expect him to be before his first

SAN DIEGO -- Last year, Willy Adames batted leadoff only once for the Giants. Adames entered the last day of the regular season with 29 home runs, so the Giants decided to move him to the top of the lineup to try to maximize his chances of reaching 30.

HOUSTON -- Who cares that the season is less than a week old? The Astros have turned in must-see baseball with the way they’re bashing the baseball all over Daikin Park en route to scoring at least eight runs in four games in a row for the first time since

LOS ANGELES -- Guardians rookie right fielder Chase DeLauter exited Tuesday's game against the Dodgers with a left foot contusion after fouling a pitch off the foot in the top of the first inning. DeLauter was checked on by a trainer but stayed in to finish his at-bat, grounding out

HOUSTON -- A strikeout and a walk in one plate appearance is something that’s not supposed to happen in baseball. Fortunately for Astros right fielder Cam Smith, only the walk counted.

Which Minor League ballparks are worth visiting? The answer, of course, is "all of them." Minor League Baseball's 120 teams operate out of a wide variety of locales, within a wide variety of locations, and all of them offer their own unique charms. And every year, there are different reasons

So far in 2026, we’ve had not one but TWO players homer twice in their regular-season debuts. On Thursday, Chase DeLauter homered twice in his regular-season debut -- the Guardians outfielder made his MLB debut in the 2025 postseason, but Opening Day marked his first regular-season game. Just five days

MILWAUKEE – Brandon Woodruff would have started the Triple-A Nashville Sounds’ home opener on Tuesday night had he and the Brewers taken the cautious approach. Few would have blamed them for building in extra time to prepare for this season, considering he’s so recently removed from a two-year rehab from

ST. LOUIS -- By the end of last summer, Kodai Senga can admit now, he was a bit of a mess. For a year and a half, Senga had battled shoulder, calf and hamstring injuries, all of which wreaked havoc on his mechanics. On the mound, he lacked confidence. His

We regrettably have no video evidence to prove it, but baseball pranks, gags and practical jokes have almost certainly been around as long as the game itself. You can probably imagine a member of the 1881 Worcester Ruby Legs setting fire to the shoe of an unwitting teammate. Or a