8:28 PM ET Associated Press TOKYO — Japan’s professional baseball league says it will play its 72 remaining preseason games in empty stadiums because of the threat of the spreading coronavirus. The regular season is to open on March 20. The virus that began in China is disrupting all of the country’s sports schedules and
MLB
7:08 PM ET ESPN News Services PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — George Springer could only stand there all alone and listen. The Houston Astros leadoff man had no choice when he stepped into the batter’s box a bit too early and was showered with loud boos Wednesday at a spring training game against the New
8:00 AM ET Rachel MarcusESPN Editor Close ESPN Editor Joined ESPN in 2013 Maryland native, Syracuse graduate The monocle almost didn’t make it to Justin Meekins’ picture day. Meekins, a senior outfielder at Salisbury University in Maryland who bears a strong resemblance to former MLB outfielder Jayson Werth, needed that monocle from Amazon Prime. It
3:51 PM ET New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton might miss the start of the season because of a strained calf. Yankees manager Aaron Boone announced Wednesday that Stanton has a Grade 1 strain in his right calf and will be out “a couple weeks.” 1 Related The Yankees open their season March 26 against
3:35 PM ET ESPN New Services Former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, who is in the New York Mets minor league system, will play for the Philippines in next month’s World Baseball Classic qualifiers. Tebow’s parents were missionaries in the Philippines when Tebow was born in 1987. The family moved to Florida
2:18 PM ET Boston Red Sox prospect Chih-Jung Liu, who arrived from his native Taiwan last week, is in quarantine as a precaution against the coronavirus. The 20-year-old right-hander is in his hotel room in Fort Myers, Florida, and says he feels fine. Liu wrote on his Facebook page that he’s doing some weight training,
10:11 AM ET The Milwaukee Brewers have signed right-hander Freddy Peralta to a five-year contract extension, a source told ESPN’s Jeff Passan. According to Passan, the deal is worth $15.5 million guaranteed and includes two club options. Peralta was 7-3 with a 5.29 ERA in 39 appearances (eight starts) for the Brewers in 2019, when
8:00 AM ET Sam MillerESPN.com Close ESPN baseball columnist/feature writerFormer editor-in-chief of Baseball ProspectusCo-author of “The Only Rule Is It Has To Work” In 2009, before he was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels, Mike Trout had committed to play baseball at East Carolina University. Because Trout has gone on to have the most historically
7:00 AM ET TEMPE, Ariz. — We should all take a moment, before salivating at the promise of the inimitable Shohei Ohtani, to commend general manager Billy Eppler for his restraint. Think about it. The Los Angeles Angels carry hopes of contention into this season, as evidenced by the $245 million addition of Anthony Rendon.
8:43 PM ET Associated Press TEMPE, Ariz. — Anthony Rendon had to laugh at the notion that he picked up right where he left off in helping the Washington Nationals win the World Series last year. Still, it was nice to leave his first game in a new uniform with a 1.000 batting average. Rendon