KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Team Flexibility paid off on the very first day.

The Twins, who made adding depth their priority during a busy offseason, got 5 1/3 shutout innings from new starter Pablo Lopéz, plus a rally-extending walk and run-scoring single from newcomers Kyle Farmer and Donovan Solano, and opened the 2023 season with a 2-0 victory ...Read more

MIAMI — Garrett Cooper is the only remaining player from the Miami Marlins’ opening day roster in 2018, the first team assembled under the franchise’s current ownership group led by principal owner and chairman Bruce Sherman.

The first baseman has seen up close and personal everything the organization has undergone over the course of the ...Read more

ARLINGTON, Texas — It began Thursday where it ended four months ago, give or take about 250 miles up the road. Same state, though. Against a team from the American League West, too.

And the outcome?

Another letdown.

Let’s be clear: On a scale of mildly disappointing to utterly soul-crushing, the Phillies’ fall-from-ahead 11-7 loss to ...Read more

CHICAGO — Every opening day brings a reminder of something from the past, and the past is a prologue when it comes to the Chicago Cubs.

The yin and yang of Cubs baseball was in evidence again Thursday at the season opener at Wrigley Field, where the Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-0, in the first game of the pitch-clock era.

Winning ...Read more

CHICAGO — Within his locker in the Chicago Cubs clubhouse, Nico Hoerner keeps a physical reminder of his connection to the organization’s most successful stretch in the modern era.

Hoerner’s stall previously belonged to Anthony Rizzo, and the second baseman still stashes a pair of Rizzo’s batting gloves featuring dachshunds inspired by ...Read more

BOSTON — Much of the discussion surrounding the roster the Orioles put together for the 2023 season focused on who wasn’t on it. They didn’t sign a marquee free agent. They didn’t swing a big trade. Top-ranked prospects Grayson Rodriguez, DL Hall and Jordan Westburg will open the season in the minors.

But any qualm one might take with ...Read more

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — When you get past all the pomp of opening day to the circumstance, winning the game is what matters most.

The Rays did that on Thursday, beating the Tigers, 4-0, in pretty much the style they hope will carry them throughout the next six months.

Shane McClanahan delivered a dominant six-inning start. The Rays grabbed an...Read more

MIAMI — The Mets were set to start the season with their healthiest rotation in years, but then Justin Verlander felt something wrong in his right shoulder during a bullpen session the night before opening day at LoanDepot Park.

The Mets’ co-ace and marquee winter signing, will start the season on the injured list with a low-grade major ...Read more

NEW YORK — “Volpe’s on deck.”

Matt Hyde, a Northeast area scout for the Yankees, used to send that text to his colleagues, crosscheckers and superiors whenever Anthony Volpe stepped to the plate. The messages, which began during a tournament in Jupiter, Fla. during the Fall of Volpe’s senior year of high school, also included the name...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — John Middleton wanted to be the one to tell Bryce Harper. So, shortly after lunchtime in Philadelphia on the first Monday in December, once Trea Turner had accepted the Phillies’ $300 million offer, the owner reached for his phone and called the star slugger at home in Las Vegas.

“Hey,” Middleton said, “we got your ...Read more

PHOENIX — Clayton Kershaw first confronted the conundrum almost 10 years ago.

On the verge of free agency ahead of the 2014 season, and having already become entrenched as the face of the Dodgers franchise following his second of three Cy Young Award wins, the left-hander faced a crossroads during contract negotiations with the club that ...Read more

First, it was “next week.” Then, it was “before spring training is over.” Now, Orioles CEO and Chairman John Angelos has self-imposed two deadlines to go over the team’s finances with Baltimore reporters and has twice failed to follow through.

The Orioles played their final spring training game Monday, more than two months after ...Read more

"We don't pursue the bling."

That is not a song lyric. That is a mission statement, from an interview with a man whose investment company owns a small share of six teams in Major League Baseball.

Christopher Zook's company is not about providing investors the chance to win and wear a World Series ring, or the opportunity to shake hands with ...Read more

There aren’t a lot of interesting trades that happen less than 24 hours before opening day. Any major leaguer who gets dealt didn’t fit on somebody’s roster. Any minor leaguer who gets dealt for somebody like that is essentially a penny ante. In other words, the only players who get traded this time of year are players who are, by ...Read more

MIAMI — When the Mets begin the 2023 season Thursday afternoon in Miami, they’ll be doing so without a closer. The club has yet to decide on a replacement for Edwin Diaz and they don’t anticipate doing so anytime soon.

The closer situation might be the biggest storyline and the biggest question for the Mets as the 2023 season gets ...Read more