Posts

It’s Opening Day, which means we’re in for roughly six months of prognostication about who’s going to win what, who’s going to surprise and who’s going to disappoint. Of course, nobody really knows anything because predicting baseball is mostly a fool’s errand. But it’s always fun, because we all get to look back in October and see just how wrong we were. RIVERA: Meet MLB’s All-Fun Team for 2021...

Every Thursday Sporting News Fantasy will provide a snapshot of the upcoming week’s major league baseball schedule. Weekly leaguers should note how many games each team plays, as well as which players will gain/lose at-bats because of interleague play. Daily leaguers should note first-pitch times and Monday/Thursday off-days. RELATED: Top pickups | 2-start SPs SCHEDULE INFO FOR 5/18-5/24 Teams with five games (6): Pirates, Nationals, Reds, Royals, Twins, Yankees...

Hitters sure do love Coors Field. Padres outfielder Matt Kemp joined the Rangers’ Shin-Soo Choo as players to hit for the cycle in Colorado this season. Like Choo, Kemp capped his feat with a ninth-inning triple in San Diego’s 9-5 win. Kemp started the game with a two-run homer in the first, added a single in the third, then connected on an RBI-double in the seventh. The triple in the ninth drove in Yangervis Solarte, giving Kemp four RBIs on the night....

Orioles outfielder Henry Urrutia picked the right time to hit his first career major league home run. MORE: Nine most fan-friendly contracts | A’s were right to trade Donaldson The 28-year-old Cuban defector lined a 1-2 pitch from Mets reliever Carlos Torres just over the wall in left field to give the Orioles a 5-4 win in the bottom of the ninth inning. Urrutia, who was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk last week, become the fifth Oriole in club history — and the first since Chris Hoiles in 1990 — to record a walkoff homer as their first career home run....

For decades, MLB produced highlight films and various mini-documentaries that were beloved among baseball fans. Most of them are not easily found today, aside from the occasional bootleg video on YouTube. And though MLB already has lots of cool stuff on its MLB Vault YouTube page and its newly updated, searchable video archive at MLB.com, there are still many untapped archival possibilities. Classic games, forgotten gems, blooper videos, team documentaries and more are probably just sitting on a server or in a warehouse somewhere, and that’s not good for anyone....

RELATED: MLB The Show 21: Best Outfielders For Any Dream Team So, how do these players manage to smack so many long balls over the fence in MLB The Show 21? If it were easy, then it wouldn’t be as rare and exciting. The art takes time, practice, maybe some fiddling with the settings, and a whole lot of knowledge. Gamers can mess around with the sliders and difficulty at their own discretion, but here are some tips that will help with any level of experience....

RELATED: MLB The Show 22: Pitching Settings Guide This isn’t to say that pitching is boring. The intensity of carrying a no-hitter into the ninth inning gets the heart rate going more than any do-or-die at bat. For those who crave this aspect of the game, these are the best pitchers to use in MLB The Show 22. Updated on July 13th, 2022 by Hodey Johns: This list first came out before the season started....

One of the more intriguing changes to the franchise was in its commentary, saying goodbye to commentator Matt Vasgersian after 16 years, along with Dan Plesac, Mark DeRosa, and Heidi Watney, who spent the last three years as a unit. MLB The Show 22 welcomed in Jon Sciambi and Chris Singleton as the new voices to the game, albeit to mixed reviews. RELATED: MLB The Show 22 Releases Mother’s Day Event, New Series For May...

New York was reportedly looking to add at least one starter before the trade deadline and had been linked to Tanner Roark, Trevor Bauer, Madison Bumgarner, Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard, Robbie Ray, Marcus Stroman and Mike Minor. But, the Yankees failed to come away with any of those players and instead made just one move — acquiring minor leaguer Alfredo Garcia from the Rockies in exchange for Joseph Harvey....

Smith, a 2013 first-round pick, is one of New York’s top prospects and has flashed his potential during a few brief stints in MLB. The 23-year-old first baseman, however, has been passed on the team’s depth chart by young star Pete Alonso, which could lead the Mets to consider trading him. “He is certainly a player other teams will target,” an unnamed talent evaluator told MLB.com recently. “There will be a substantial market for Smith....

Given the organization’s approach, it makes sense that a cornerstone player such as second baseman Chase Utley wants to stick around. Utley was asked Monday by MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki if he would agree to waive his no-trade rights if the Phils decided to start over. Utley doubted it would come to that. “Well, you’re creating situations that aren’t necessarily going to happen,” Utley told Zolecki. “I guess we’d have to see at that point, but I don’t plan on going anywhere....

While the Yankees just missed out on Japanese super-star Shohei Ohtani, they did land another big fish, reeling in reigning NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton in a trade with the Miami Marlins. The trade, in addition to the Marlins’ deal with the Mariners sending Dee Gordon to Seattle and their trade with the Cardinals to off-load Marcell Ozuna confirms months of speculation and rumors: the Marlins are in “Everything Must Go” mode....

Kansas City is focused on trading outfielder Billy Hamilton, reliever Jake Diekman, first baseman Lucas Duda and right-hander Ian Kennedy before the July 31 deadline, according to a report from MLB.com, which cites an unidentified league source. The Royals already completed a pair of deals this week as they sent catcher Martin Maldonado to the Cubs and Homer Bailey to the Athletics. Diekman, 32, holds a 4.97 ERA in 44 appearances this season while Kennedy, 34, a former starter, has recorded 14 saves and a 3....

However, since baseball expanded the playoffs to include two Wild Cards it’s become more difficult to tell which teams should do what — which brings us to the Tigers. Detroit is in the rare position of clarity, and it’s time for the Tigers to make some trades to get younger and better. Detroit enters the second half eight games behind Cleveland in the AL Central division with Kansas City and Minnesota in between them and first place....

One of the few reasons for fans to show up is Giancarlo Stanton. It’s almost impossible to overstate the wonder that Stanton can inspire. Marlins Park is a technicolor cavern, a gaping maw that swallows up fly balls. Even though the fences have been brought in, it’s still in the bottom third of the league for homers. It matters little for Stanton. He can make any park look like Williamsport....

MLB umps are under the microscope for every pitch, every out, every missed call. At some point, they start fighting back. That was the case Wednesday. Less than 24 hours after Guardians catcher Austin Hedges skewered umpires for an overturned call at home plate, the MLB Umpires Association released a statement defending the call and berated MLB and its players for implementing the somewhat confusing home plate collision rule (via ESPN):...

The event will be live streamed on MLSsoccer.com. WHO: Don Garber, MLS Commissioner Members of the #MLS4TheLou Ownership Group Lyda Krewson, Mayor of St. Louis Lewis Reed, President of the Board of Aldermen Additional Special Guests WHEN: Tuesday, August 20 12:30 p.m. ET LIVE STREAM: www.MLSsoccer.com SATELLITE FEED: A complimentary live satellite feed of the event is available. Coordinates and information are available for download here and listed below:...

Toronto FC’s slow start is due in part to the team’s quest for a CONCACAF Champions League title, a quest that will end after next week’s CCL final decider against Chivas de Guadalajara. Greg Vanney will trot out reserves in Houston to take on the Dynamo, and even though a loss is a good possibility, nobody in Toronto is panicking about digging too deep a hole in the East standings....