MLB

1:49 AM ET It would have been perfectly reasonable to assume the Clayton Kershaw of 2017 would never return. He was still at the height of his profession then, right before the indications of a steady decline became so obvious. Then the innings piled up, the back issues persisted and the fastball continued to diminish.

5:09 PM ET The New York Mets‘ game Thursday against the Miami Marlins has been postponed after two positive tests for the coronavirus within the Mets’ organization, Major League Baseball announced Thursday. In addition, Friday’s game between the Mets and New York Yankees has been postponed to allow for additional testing and for contact tracing

7:00 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” No assumption in baseball is more sacrosanct than this one: Lefty batters hit righty pitchers better, and righty batters hit lefty pitchers better. Hundreds of major league careers, and literally millions of

8:55 PM ET ESPN News Services Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman used an anti-gay slur during Cincinnati’s game Wednesday night at the Kansas City Royals and later left the broadcast after apologizing. Brennaman used the slur moments after the Fox Sports Ohio broadcast returned from a commercial break before the top of the seventh inning of

7:30 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” The first time anybody talked about “The Curse of the Bambino,” according to newspaper databases, was in 1989, when buzz started to build about an upcoming book of that title by Boston

7:00 AM ET Anthony OlivieriESPN.com When the minor league baseball season was canceled on June 30, hundreds of players were left scrambling. Unlike their major league counterparts, minor leaguers aren’t unionized or protected by federal minimum wage law. Most of them earn low pay during the season — players in Class A made, on average,

1:28 AM ET Kenta Maeda is what I refer to as a kitchen sink pitcher — as in he’ll throw the whole kitchen sink at you. On Tuesday night, the veteran right-hander had everything working for the Minnesota Twins in their Major League Baseball game against the Brewers: fastball, sinker, slider, splitter, blender, waffle iron.

3:27 PM ET ESPN News Services Texas Rangers pitcher Ian Gibaut, who threw a pitch at Manny Machado after Fernando Tatis Jr.’s grand slam in Monday night’s game, has been suspended for three games. Rangers manager Chris Woodward also received a one-game suspension “as a result of Gibaut’s actions,” MLB said in a statement Tuesday.

10:23 AM ET Emily Kaplan Close ESPN Emily Kaplan is ESPN’s national NHL reporter. Jeff Passan Close ESPN ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Major League Baseball is in the early stages of drafting an operating manual for a playoff bubble, the same initial

1:15 AM ET When Juan Soto homered in the top of the ninth inning on Monday night to give the Nationals a 6-3 lead over the Braves, he admired his blast and enjoyed a slow trot around the bases — the seventh time in his 12 Major League Baseball games he has made such a

12:00 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” The fallout from the Cleveland Indians‘ team meeting that saw pitchers Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac sent home could have wide-ranging implications on both the Indians’ season as well as the financial

7:00 AM ET ESPN.com Staff With a third of the 2020 MLB season already gone, it’s time to acknowledge that some of the bottom-tier teams that have had stunning turnarounds in the standings may well stick in the playoff picture the rest of the way. We knew the 60-game schedule was going to create some

5:27 PM ET Associated Press CHICAGO — St. Louis Cardinals reliever Roel Ramirez became the first pitcher to allow four straight home runs in his major league debut when the Chicago White Sox hit him around in the fifth inning Sunday. Yoan Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, Jose Abreu and Eloy Jimenez connected during a six-run inning,

3:54 PM ET The Toronto Blue Jays placed shortstop Bo Bichette on the 10-day injured list Sunday with a sprained right knee. Bichette “felt something” in his knee during Saturday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays while stretching, according to manager Charlie Montoyo. Bichette was then sent for an MRI. Bichette leads the Blue

7:30 AM ET MLB InsidersESPN The New York Yankees–Boston Red Sox rivalry in 2020 is as lopsided as it’s been in quite some time. Just two years ago, the Red Sox were eliminating the Yankees from the playoffs on their way to a World Series title. This season, the Yankees are on track to get

10:15 PM ET CHICAGO — It’s the stuff they might write a movie about someday as the St. Louis Cardinals returned to a Major League Baseball field in dramatic fashion Saturday, sweeping the Chicago White Sox in a doubleheader, after the team had missed the past 19 days of competition because of a coronavirus outbreak

4:53 PM ET Associated Press MIAMI — The Atlanta Braves decided to place outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. on the 10-day injured list retroactively Saturday because of lingering wrist soreness, and they’re hoping he can return next weekend. The 2018 NL Rookie of the Year hasn’t played since Monday because of inflammation in his left wrist.

1:08 AM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” A Cincinnati Reds player tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, jeopardizing the team’s game Saturday against the Pittsburgh Pirates and reigniting fear of another outbreak in the sport after a pair of