MLB

8:08 AM ET In the wake of a COVID-19 outbreak that sidelined 18 players and two coaches, the Miami Marlins were forced to make an unprecedented number of roster moves this week. But perhaps no call-up from the taxi squad was more improbable or intriguing than Eddy Alvarez, a 30-year-old rookie who has spent most

7:00 AM ET The fish pounce on everything thrown at them, and Pete Alonso and friends haul in reds, snook and trout from this semi-secret spot off Tampa Bay like they’re grabbing M&M’s out of a bowl. A catch-and-release derby is suddenly on, and Alonso starts happily handing the rods to the interlopers on the

1:10 PM ET ESPN News Services Friday’s series opener between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals has been postponed after at least one more positive COVID-19 test in the St. Louis clubhouse, a source confirmed to ESPN. The Cardinals have not played since July 29 due to positive coronavirus tests. The team previously announced

7:00 AM ET Mike Trout homered in his first at-bat as a father on Tuesday, and anybody who has ever spent any time around the Los Angeles Angels‘ star probably muttered something like, “Of course he did.” He does stuff like that all the time, some of it in front of the cameras but much

1:45 AM ET The Los Angeles Dodgers have the best lineup in the National League and maybe the best pitching staff, but their two biggest highlights of the season have been two tremendous throws. The first, from Mookie Betts deep in the right-field corner to cut down Ketel Marte trying to stretch a double into

6:34 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — The Philadelphia Phillies and Miami Marlins will play seven times in five days as part of Major League Baseball’s reconfigured schedule released Thursday to account for 21 coronavirus-caused postponements in the first two weeks of the season. The Marlins, who had their season suspended for more than

7:00 AM ET Alden Gonzalez Close ESPN Staff Writer Joined ESPN in 2016 to cover the Los Angeles Rams Previously covered the Angels for MLB.com Jesse Rogers Close ESPN Staff Writer Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com. Los Angeles Dodgers hitting coach Brant Brown used to see his daily

6:51 PM ET Associated Press WASHINGTON — Three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer left his start for the Nationals against the New York Mets after just one inning Wednesday night. Washington did not immediately announce why Scherzer was taken out of the game after merely 27 pitches. He was replaced in the top of

7:00 AM ET Pedro GomezMLB Close ESPN’s Pedro Gomez covered the Oakland A’s home and away nearly every day from 1992-97 for the San Jose Mercury News and Sacramento Bee and then became the national baseball writer and later a general columnist at the Arizona Republic before becoming an ESPN bureau reporter in 2003. The

11:18 PM ET Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout homered in his first at-bat as a father, turning on a 2-2 slider from the Mariners‘ Mike Dunn and launching it 407 feet in the first inning of Tuesday’s game at Seattle. Trout, six days removed from his previous game, entered Tuesday batting .324/.428/.639 for his

1:40 AM ET CHICAGO — It’s easy to look at the stats and quickly tell why the Chicago Cubs are off to a fast start to this shortened Major League Baseball season. Their 9-2 record — after a nail-biting 5-4 win over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday — can be chalked up to the

5:20 PM ET ESPN News Services The delay in the Miami Marlins‘ first game back after a COVID-19 outbreak on the team put their season on pause has been resolved, a source confirmed to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Major League Baseball released a statement around three hours before the scheduled 7:35 p.m. start saying the game

7:00 AM ET MLB InsidersESPN We will grant that a week or so into the baseball season is typically a bit early to make any proclamations about what we have seen. But as you might have heard, this is not a typical baseball season. In 2020, 10 games represents one sixth of the season, which

12:58 AM ET Nothing says watching Major League Baseball in 2020 quite like watching Monday’s New York Mets–Atlanta Braves game in Atlanta, hearing a loud clap of thunder and having Mets announcer Gary Cohen explain that the thunder was actually from Citi Field in Queens, where he, Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez were broadcasting the

4:04 PM ET The St. Louis Cardinals are the latest team to suffer a coronavirus outbreak, resulting in their four-game series in Detroit being postponed. “The Cardinals have had 13 members of the organization test positive for COVID-19 in the last week, including seven players and six staff members,” the league said in a statement.

But there’s no need to be all doom and gloom. After all, there were actual Major League Baseball games! And with games come updated Power Rankings. We surveyed our group of reporters, analysts and editors after the first week and a half of the 60-game (we hope) season, with the results below. The biggest gainers

1:43 PM ET ESPN News Services The New York Mets‘ Yoenis Cespedes has opted out of the 2020 season after he did not report to Truist Park in Atlanta for Sunday’s game against the Braves, according to general manager Brodie Van Wagenen. Van Wagenen addressed Cespedes’ decision with reporters after the Mets’ 4-0 loss. The

11:18 AM ET The Cincinnati Reds placed veteran first baseman Joey Votto on the injured list Sunday before the opener of their doubleheader with the Detroit Tigers. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that Votto self-reported coronavirus symptoms Sunday morning but has not tested positive for the virus. The Reds did not disclose a reason for the