MLB

1:53 PM ET ESPN News Services St. Louis Cardinals slugger Tyler O’Neill, who was not in the lineup one day after manager Oliver Marmol criticized his baserunning effort, defended his track record as a “scrappy” player and said he wished the matter had been handled internally. O’Neill was thrown out by Ronald Acuna Jr. at

12:29 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” DESCRIBING LIFE IN the minor leagues can sound like a twisted Mad Lib. The names and locations and adjectives may change, but for generations, the details of the climb to Major League

7:00 AM ET A Google search for “Houston Astros” and “evil empire” generates over 1 million results, with headlines such as: “Are the Houston Astros the new evil empire of baseball?” and “Jose Abreu signing helps Astros approach evil empire status” and “The new evil empire: Houston Astros look to erase stain of cheating scandal.”

11:29 PM ET ESPN News Services ST. LOUIS — Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol questioned outfielder Tyler O’Neill‘s effort after he was thrown out at home during a 4-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night. With St. Louis trailing 4-1 with two out in the seventh inning, O’Neill attempted to score on Brendan Donovan‘s

5:15 PM ET ESPN News Services SAN DIEGO — Padres slugger Manny Machado was ejected by plate umpire Ron Kulpa after being called out on strikes on a pitch clock violation to end the first inning of Tuesday’s game against Arizona. Machado was adjusting his batting gloves and appeared to be calling time as the

8:00 AM ET On a cloudy day in early January, Aaron Judge walked into the Yankees’ player development complex in Tampa, Florida. Hitting coach Dillon Lawson and infielder DJ LeMahieu were already working in the batting cages inside. They greeted Judge and congratulated him on the contract he’d signed a few weeks before, guaranteeing him

6:14 PM ET Los Angeles Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon has been given a five-game suspension for a public altercation with a fan in Oakland last week, videos of which circulated through social media. The decision was announced by Major League Baseball, specifically senior vice president of on-field operations Michael Hill, on Monday. If Rendon

3:52 PM ET CHICAGO — White Sox fans received a surprise gift at the team’s home opener Monday when closer Liam Hendriks announced he is undergoing his last round of chemotherapy. In a video message played on the scoreboard and posted to the team’s official Twitter account, Hendriks said, “Happy Opening Day, Sox fans. Just

5:16 PM ET Associated Press MIAMI — Kodai Senga struck out eight in his major league debut, wearing a glove with an image of a ghost and a pitchfork in reference to his “ghost forkball,” leading the New York Mets over the Miami Marlins 5-1 on Sunday. The 30-year-old left-hander agreed to a $75 million,

2:55 PM ET Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Don Zimmer, a popular fixture in professional baseball for 66 years as a manager, player, coach and executive, has become the first person in the Tampa Bay Rays‘ Hall of Fame. Zimmer was honored in a ceremony before Sunday’s game against the Detroit Tigers. He spent

2:41 PM ET Diamondbacks left-hander Madison Bumgarner has been sent back to Arizona to be evaluated by the club’s medical team after citing arm fatigue following his start against the Los Angeles Dodgers, manager Torey Lovullo said Sunday. Bumgarner (0-1, 11.25 ERA) allowed five runs on four hits with four walks and two strikeouts in

1:23 AM ET Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Trayce Thompson not only took out his frustrations on a left-hander, he helped one as well with a career night to spark the Los Angeles Dodgers to an easy victory. Thompson hit three home runs, including a grand slam in his first at-bat of the season, and

6:52 PM ET ESPN News Services ST. LOUIS — Jack Flaherty survived a career-high seven walks and a hit batter in throwing five no-hit innings, and the St. Louis Cardinals scored three unearned runs in the third on their way to a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday for their first win

3:40 PM ET ESPN News Services Anthony Rendon wasn’t very talkative Saturday, two days after video surfaced of the Los Angeles Angels All-Star swiping at an Oakland fan following an Opening Day loss to the Athletics. “I’m sorry. I can’t comment,” the third baseman told reporters Saturday during a news conference on the field at

2:24 AM ET SAN DIEGO — Jake Cronenworth and the San Diego Padres are in agreement on a seven-year extension, a source confirmed to ESPN on Friday night. The deal, which will become official once it receives approval from Major League Baseball, would begin next year and keep Cronenworth with the Padres through the 2030

4:43 PM ET Major League Baseball says it is investigating a confrontation between Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon and an Athletics fan at Thursday’s season opener in Oakland. In a 12-second video posted on social media, Rendon grabs the fan by the shirt and accuses the fan of calling him a “b—-.” Rendon continues to

7:00 AM ET Major League Baseball’s new rules didn’t impact scoring significantly in spring training, and oddsmakers began the season without adjusting their numbers on runs scored, while taking a wait-and-see approach to the pitch clock and elimination of the infield shift. MLB games have averaged 9.1 runs scored over the past five seasons. Last

9:47 PM ET ARLINGTON — Perhaps there’s some irony in Jacob deGrom‘s first start as a Texas Ranger on Thursday. Known for getting little run support in his years with the New York Mets, deGrom got plenty from his new teammates – except they came after he was chased from the game by the Philadelphia