Baseball

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Zac Gallen had just been promoted to Class AA, and his first assignment for the Springfield Cardinals was to chart the pitches of a teammate. It was a routine task and Gallen was tired, but a coach gave him a tip: “You might want to pay attention to this.” The “this” in … Read more

PHOENIX — Triston McKenzie and Logan Gilbert both dress a few lockers down from a surprise American League Cy Young Award winner. In the Cleveland Guardians’ clubhouse in Goodyear, Ariz., it is Shane Bieber, who won in 2020; in the Seattle Mariners’, in Peoria, it is Robbie Ray, who won for Toronto the next season. … Read more

MIAMI — He strode to the mound with purpose, 6-foot-4 and full of muscle, a relief pitcher unlike any other. Fresh from the bullpen, his uniform was already caked in dirt. Shohei Ohtani had put in a full day’s work by the ninth inning of the World Baseball Classic final on Tuesday, coming to bat … Read more

MIAMI — The matchup that many had dreamed about all along — between two of the world’s baseball powerhouses and two of its best players in Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout — is exactly what it came down to. Ohtani, the two-way phenomenon, was Japan’s designated hitter all game and took the mound in the … Read more

MIAMI — The games in this World Baseball Classic, collectively, have been like the very best postseason series, with the mayhem unspooling so fast that you cannot possibly keep it all together. It is a grand mosaic, each little piece its own story, all of them essential to the whole. Now we come to the … Read more

MIAMI — Jeff McNeil, a star second baseman and outfielder for the Mets, is an exceptional hitter with a standout ability to make contact. He won the 2022 National League batting title with a .326 average over 148 games. His average over his five major-league seasons is .307. Over the winter, the Mets rewarded the … Read more