Baseball

Samurai Japan’s WBC Squad Brings the Best of NPB (and MLB) Yukihito Taguchi-USA TODAY Sports Samurai Japan has a long history of baseball in its popular culture. From the organized cheers for NPB players and teams to the summer Koshien high school tournament, baseball serves as not just a spectator sport but a way of life for many people. As a result, Japanese players put great emphasis on their national team’s success in international competitions…

  Former MLB catcher Gary Bennett is chatting live right now!   Gary Bennett was drafted by the Phillies in the 11th round in 1990 out of Waukegan East High School.  His MLB career began with a single plate appearance more than five years later, when he pinch-hit for the Phils against David Wells.  His first big league home run came in 1999, at the age of 27. In July of 2001, Bennett was traded to…

No, Bobby Witt Jr. didn’t win the Rookie of the Year Award in 2022. That honor went to Julio Rodríguez of the Seattle Mariners. MLB Pipeline’s 2022 Preseason Top Prospects list named Witt the game’s top prospect. Rodríguez came in at number three. Expectations were sky-high when both started the 2022 season on Opening Day in the Major Leagues. Julio brought home the hardware and helped his franchise see playoff baseball for the first time…

With Miguel Vargas’ pinkie fracture, the Dodgers second baseman is slowly progressing to be cleared to hit in games this spring.  Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spoke to the media at Camelback Ranch last Wednesday and although Roberts stated he wanted to have the 23-year-old swing the bat on Saturday, that did not end up happening.  The LA Times reported on when the young infielder is likely to swing again “Manager Dave Roberts said the team…

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Kenta Maeda pitching well despite PitchCom giving away his signs, spring training injuries (5:26), the upsides and downsides of pitchers beginning to call their own pitches with PitchCom (9:03), and the reasons why hitters collectively seem to swing more often than they should (20:18). Then they continue (and pass the halfway point of) their 2023 season preview series by discussing the Los Angeles Dodgers (40:01) with Fabian Ardaya…

The start of spring training always brings plenty of reports of players experiencing ’tightness’ or ’discomfort’, and while many of those wind up being rather minor, the Rangers in particular are dealing with plenty of seemingly minor ailments this spring, as Levi Weaver of The Athletic reports. Star winter signing Jacob deGrom was experiencing left-side tightness early in camp, but is scheduled to now throw his first live bullpen session on Wednesday, as Evan Grant…