Sports

/

ArcaMax

K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Padres step up to lift the Manny who has carried them many times

Sports / Baseball /

SEOUL, South Korea — The tear in Manny Machado's elbow has been repaired, and the load on his shoulders has been lightened.

The leader is now one of many, and he is so clearly pleased with this.

"I think we've all learned in the past that it takes more than just one player to get to where we want to get to," Machado said. "This year has ...Read more

Why the Braves rewarded Forrest Wall with final bench spot on roster

Sports / Baseball /

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – Opening Day will have one more special touch for the Braves: Forrest Wall, the journeyman prospect who has persevered through a lengthy journey, will be on the roster for Atlanta. He will line up in Philadelphia with his teammates for the national anthem on his first Opening Day.

After Monday’s game versus the Rays in...Read more

Ivy Ceballo/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

Rays' Randy Arozarena is getting back to his outfield roots

Sports / Baseball /

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — For the Rays, it’s a problem they need to figure out. For Randy Arozarena, it’s a chance to revisit his early days in the major leagues.

The loss of Josh Lowe for the first few weeks of the season to an oblique strain has the Rays looking for someone who can back up Jose Siri in centerfield.

Arozarena on Monday was...Read more

Jose F. Moreno/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Bryce Harper's stiff back might be no big deal now, but it's a fact of life for the Phillies slugger

Sports / Baseball /

CLEARWATER, Fla. — It’s that time of spring training — five weeks down, seven days to go — when the most notable things that can happen to a player with a guaranteed roster spot are almost all bad.

Ask Rhys Hoskins.

So, when Bryce Harper woke up last Friday and felt stiffness in his lower back, he mentioned it to the Phillies’ ...Read more

Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images North America/TNS

Bryce Miller: Rollicking welcome to Korean baseball leaves Padres smiling

Sports / Baseball /

SEOUL, South Korea — As fans jammed the Gocheok Sky Dome concourse Sunday, minutes before the Padres faced Team Korea, the concession stands showcased a world more than 6,000 miles away.

At one stop, potato ice cream. At another, spicy pork feet dumplings. At yet another, Korean blood sausage sundaes.

The interesting menu apparently was ...Read more

John E. Moore III/Getty Images North America/TNS

Matt Calkins: After stepping away from baseball due to burnout, Ty Buttrey is trying to return with Mariners

Sports / Baseball /

PEORIA, Ariz. — He first noticed it while driving to the field one day in 2019.

Ty Buttrey was a relief pitcher with the Angels at the time, succeeding in a way some told him he never would, but something wasn't right.

This kid's game he was supposed to love? He wasn't loving it. The 99th percentile salary he was raking in? Of little ...Read more

Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Paul Sullivan: You can star in the new Chicago White Sox ad campaign! Sounds like a plan, huh, Jerry?

Sports / Baseball /

CHICAGO — An email from the Chicago White Sox arrived in my inbox Thursday, the day after the announced opening-day starter, Dylan Cease, was traded to the San Diego Padres for a reliever and three prospects.

To my surprise, it was an invitation to help the Sox sell tickets for the 2024 season, which begins March 28 against the Detroit ...Read more

Mets haven't discussed contract extension with Pete Alonso, hope to make playoffs in 2024, Steve Cohen says

Sports / Baseball /

An extension remains far from imminent for Mets star Pete Alonso.

The Mets haven’t engaged in contract talks with their homegrown slugger as he nears the start of his walk year, owner Steve Cohen said Sunday.

“We haven’t had any discussions, and I think at this point, as far as for Pete, it’s best for him to have a great year and not ...Read more

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images North America/TNS

Jason Mackey: Pirates' gamble with Domingo German is complicated, and that's OK

Sports / Baseball /

BRADENTON, Fla. — If this was solely about baseball, it would be easy.

The Pirates need starting pitching. Domingo German, who tossed the 24th perfect game in MLB history on June 28, 2023, could eventually help in that regard. But adding the former Yankee on a minor league deal can't possibly be just about baseball.

It's a more complicated ...Read more

Julio Aguilar/Getty Images North America/TNS

Bill Madden: From pitching depth to financial concerns, Juan Soto deal might not add up for Yankees

Sports / Baseball /

NEW YORK — When Gene Michael was heading up the Yankee baseball operations and in the process of building the 1996-2001 dynasty, he had one primary credo when it came to trades on which he was uncompromising: Never give up top prospects for an unsigned player.

But that’s exactly what the Yankees did back in December when they traded Michael...Read more

Bryce Miller/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

'They love him here': Back in his home country, Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim has 'superstar' status

Sports / Baseball /

SEOUL — As a youth baseball clinic at Yongsan Children's Park began to wrap up, royalty of the baseball and political kind prepared for a princely moment.

Ha-Seong Kim, the Korean sensation who became a Gold Glove winner and shortstop for the San Diego Padres, was sizing up a baseball as he prepared to show off his multi-million-dollar swing ...Read more

Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images North America/TNS

'It can be galvanizing.' How Dodgers' Korea trip could help bond their new-look team

Sports / Baseball /

SEOUL — As soon as the question was asked, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts grabbed at the translator listening device sitting in front of them, eager to hear how new teammate Shohei Ohtani would answer.

Before the Dodgers' first full workout in South Korea on Saturday — in preparation for their season-opening international series against ...Read more

Sarah Stier/Getty Images North America/TNS

Yankees ace Gerrit Cole won't throw for 3-4 weeks, but feels relieved by diagnosis on elbow

Sports / Baseball /

TAMPA, Fla. — Various tests and a trip to Los Angeles to see Dr. Neal ElAttrache had some fearing the worst, but Gerrit Cole said that he’s only dealing with nerve inflammation and edema in his right elbow.

The ace returned to Yankees camp on Saturday, where he relayed that diagnosis and said that he won’t throw for the next three to four...Read more

Getty Images/Getty Images North America/TNS

Shohei Ohtani defers question about his wife, Japanese basketball player Mamiko Tanaka

Sports / Baseball /

LOS ANGELES — Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani surprised most everyone when he announced Feb. 29 on Instagram that he had gotten married.

He provided no other details, not even his wife's name, on social media and when he spoke to reporters later that day at spring training in Phoenix.

"She's a normal Japanese woman," he said at the time.

...Read more

Kenneth K. Lam/Baltimore Sun/TNS

How Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo became one of baseball's best prospects: 'This kid is special'

Sports / Baseball /

SARASOTA, Fla. — Samuel Basallo stands tall at his locker, a boy among men, just feet from Adley Rutschman.

The 19-year-old catching prospect has the body of a big leaguer — 6 feet 4 and perhaps still growing — but the face and wide smile of a teenager. He’s the youngest player at Orioles spring training, but that doesn’t mean he’s ...Read more

K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Padres believe '24 success depends on performance on field, increased closeness off it

Sports / Baseball /

The shards of last season's shattered expectations have been picked up and thoroughly examined.

And the cuts caused by those shards created scars, forged a bond, prompted change and initiated a battlecry for the Padres.

"Togetherness," new manager Mike Shildt said. "It starts with that. There's no guarantee (of success) if you're together, but...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Dylan Hernández: Yoshinobu Yamamoto's success rooted in a willingness to change

Sports / Baseball /

OSAKA, Japan — Yoshinobu Yamamato did what?

In the underground parking lot of Kyocera Dome after a recent exhibition game, Orix Buffaloes pitching coach Masafumi Hirai chuckled when recalling how he reacted to hearing that Yamamoto reported to spring training in 2018 with a new delivery.

"I was surprised," Hirai said in Japanese.

The ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Dodgers' minor league team unwittingly rebrands with a NSFW name

Sports / Baseball /

LOS ANGELES — Chaqueta is the Spanish word for jacket.

But it also has another meaning that is, let's just say, NSFW. The word can also be slang for masturbation.

The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes were unaware of the word's second meaning when they chose the nickname Chaquetas for Minor League Baseball's Copa de la Diversión series this season.

...Read more

Max Kim/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Padres aren't the only challenge for Dodgers in playing series in South Korea

Sports / Baseball /

SEOUL — As Brandon McDaniel, the Dodgers’ vice president of player performance, walked through the team’s spring training clubhouse last week, he laughed when a reporter stopped him to ask about the season-opening trip to South Korea.

How much time had he, like many others in the organization, spent during camp preparing players for the ...Read more

Sarah Stier/Getty Images North America/TNS

Yankees name Nestor Cortes opening day starter

Sports / Baseball /

TAMPA, Fla. — Initially, Nestor Cortes wasn’t sure on Friday if he would get the start on opening day. But manager Aaron Boone later gave the lefty the nod against the Astros on March 28.

A 36th-round pick on his third stint with the Yankees, Cortes never considered the honor a possibility before an elbow injury sidelined Gerrit Cole.

“I...Read more