7:53 PM ET Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two-time All-Star Whit Merrifield of the Kansas City Royals apologized Friday for “poorly articulated” comments about the COVID-19 vaccine after missing the team’s trip to Canada. Merrifield was among 10 Royals players who didn’t travel to Toronto because of their vaccination status for a four-game series
MLB
9:24 PM ET Associated Press ATLANTA — Dwight Smith, a runner-up for NL rookie of the year who played on Atlanta‘s World Series-winning team in 1995, died Friday, the Braves announced. He was 58. The Braves said the former outfielder and pinch-hitting specialist died of congestive heart and lung failure. Smith played in the big
10:45 PM ET Associated Press SEATTLE — Rookie sensation Julio Rodriguez was a last-minute scratch from the Seattle Mariners‘ lineup Friday night for a game against the Houston Astros with left wrist soreness. The Mariners announced moments before first pitch that the 21-year-old would not play as Seattle tried for its 15th consecutive victory, which
6:14 PM ET Associated Press PITTSBURGH — Miami Marlins All-Star second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. likely will be out through the end of August. Tests revealed Chisholm has a stress reaction in his lower back, the Marlins said Friday. He is expected to miss six weeks. Chisholm, 24, was selected to the National League All-Star
12:32 PM ET Paula Lavigne Close ESPN Staff Writer Data analyst and reporter for ESPN’s Enterprise and Investigative Unit. Winner, 2014 Alfred I. duPont Columbia University Award; finalist, 2012 IRE broadcast award; winner, 2011 Gannett Foundation Award for Innovation in Watchdog Journalism; Emmy nominated, 2009. Jeff Passan Close ESPN ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm:
1:45 PM ET Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Wasserman Media Group, whose baseball division is headed by Joel Wolfe, acquired Jet Sports, the agency headed by B.B. Abbott, in a consolidation in the representation industry. Jet’s clients include Byron Buxton, Matt Olson, Chris Sale, Zack Wheeler, Charlie Morton and Corey Kluber. Abbott becomes an executive
7:00 AM ET It wasn’t the brawl. It feels like it could have been. The brawl fits into the timeline of the Seattle Mariners‘ sudden turnaround from afterthought to wild-card contender, a surge that includes the team’s current 14-game win streak — the longest ever for a team heading into the All-Star break and one
2:01 AM ET LOS ANGELES — The San Diego woman who initially accused Trevor Bauer of sexual assault, triggering the investigation that prompted an unprecedented two-year suspension, denied that her allegations were “false, fabricated or bogus,” her attorneys wrote in a court filing earlier this week. Bauer, who appealed his suspension from Major League Baseball
12:32 AM ET Associated Press PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom is nearing a return from a stress reaction in his right scapula after throwing 60 pitches across five innings in a simulated game Thursday at the team’s spring training complex. The two-time Cy Young Award winner was initially supposed
7:00 AM ET THE LOCKOUT HAD been lifted, a new collective bargaining agreement was in place and so Omar Minaya ventured out for spring training. It was the middle of March, and Minaya, the former front-office executive who is now employed by Major League Baseball as an amateur scouting consultant, had a simple, yet critical,