Sports

Munetaka Murakami was a late arrival for his first spring training game with the Chicago White Sox. Once he got to the ballpark, everything went pretty smoothly. Murakami had two hits and two RBIs in his Cactus League debut on Friday. The Japanese slugger is learning his way around the major leagues after reaching a $34 million, two-year contract with the rebuilding White Sox in December. The 26-year-old Murakami was […]

No more yelling about an egregious strike-three call or a ball four that touched the zone. Or at least, not as often. The start of spring training games this weekend also marks the beginning of the automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge system that will be introduced to Major League Baseball for the first time in 2026. With the new system, which was tested in Triple-A and at spring training games last […]

Gerrit Cole reached 96.9 mph in his first session against hitters since the New York Yankees ace underwent Tommy John elbow surgery last March. The right-hander threw about 20 pitches of batting practice Friday, facing Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge and Jasson Dominguez at the Yankees' spring training facility. He threw his first bullpen session a week earlier. New York expects Cole to be ready at some point from May to […]

Pete Alonso homered in his spring training debut for the Baltimore Orioles, providing the only runs in a 2-0 exhibition victory over the New York Yankees on Friday. In his third plate appearance in a big league uniform other than the New York Mets, Alonso pulled a first-pitch curveball over the fence in left-center field against right-hander Bradley Hanner in the sixth inning. Most of the regulars had exited the […]

This offseason will be remembered for the Dodgers’ continued spending as the back-to-back champs signed the best free agent (Kyle Tucker) and closer (Edwin Diaz) on the market. It’ll also be remembered as the winter that the Mets overhauled their roster (headlined by signing Bo Bichette), the Cubs lured Alex Bregman away from Boston, the Orioles took a Polar Bear from Queens and Blue Jays spent $210 million on Dylan […]