MLB

9:36 PM ET Associated Press BOSTON — Mike Ryan, the backup catcher on the Boston Red Sox‘s 1967 “Impossible Dream” team during a 35-year career in professional baseball, has died. He was 78. The Red Sox said Ryan died in his sleep on Tuesday in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. A native of Haverhill, Massachusetts, Ryan appeared

6:42 PM ET ESPN News Services Chicago White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech has opted out of the 2020 season, the team announced Friday. “Michael Kopech has informed us of his decision to not participate in the 2020 season,” GM Rick Hahn said. “We recognize that reaching this decision is incredibly difficult for any competitive athlete,

3:42 PM ET Associated Press TORONTO — Blue Jays infielder Travis Shaw says he’s not interested in confining himself to the hotel attached to the Rogers Centre for the summer if major league baseball is granted an exemption from the Canadian government to play baseball in Toronto amid the pandemic. The Blue Jays have created

3:31 PM ET Young Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will shift primarily to first base and designated hitter this season, Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo told reporters Friday. Guerrero, 21, most played third base as a rookie in 2019. “Vlad is going to focus on first base at this camp, and we’re going to keep

12:28 PM ET ESPN News Services San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey has opted not to play this season, telling reporters on Friday that his family recently adopted identical twin girls who were born prematurely. “After weighing it for a long time, talking to doctors, I just feel like in the current state that we

1:32 PM ET ESPN News Services All-Star slugger Joey Gallo has been cleared to return to the Texas Rangers for team workouts after previously testing positive for the coronavirus, the team announced Friday. Gallo had to have two consecutive negative tests more than 24 hours apart in order to be cleared by a physician. The

1:10 PM ET ESPN News Services Major League Baseball and the players’ union say 58 players and eight staff members tested positive for COVID-19 through the final round of the intake screening process. That’s a rate of 1.8%. MLB and the union announced the results Friday as teams move closer to opening day on July

8:48 AM ET Associated Press TOKYO — Japan’s professional baseball league opened the delayed season three weeks ago. Now fans are back, too. After playing in empty stadiums to get started, Japan began allowing up to 5,000 fans into the games on Friday, or 50% of the stadium capacity — whichever is smaller. Officials hope

7:00 AM ET The day-to-day changes Major League Baseball players are dealing with might become routine in time, many players said after the first full week of workouts at summer camp. But the new normal amid the coronavirus pandemic has already had an effect on one aspect of the game that is part of the

7:00 AM ET Marly RiveraESPN Writer Close Marly Rivera is a writer for ESPNdeportes.com and ESPN.com. One thing that will be unmistakable for fans in the National League when games in the 2020 season get played: Pitchers won’t be hitting, thanks to the adoption of the universal DH for this campaign. Whether it’s just a