Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward was going to address his entire team before the start of MLB's unprecedented summer training camp, just like he did when spring training opened about 4 1/2 months ago. It was on a Zoom call instead of in person this time. When the New York Mets resume practice, 60-year-old hitting coach Chili Davis will be working with hitters remotely and not initially at Citi Field with players and other staff members. The Seattle Mariners have three assistant coaches who fall into the high-risk category for the coronavirus and will work remotely all season. At Fenway Park, weights and other exercise equipment were set up Thursday in the concourse under the seats that Red Sox fans won't be allowed to occupy when the season finally starts. Things certainly are different for baseball's resumption amid the pandemic, three weeks before the start of a 60-game regular season. The Rangers, Mets, Mariners and Red Sox are among the teams set for their first official summer... [More]

Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward was going to address his entire team before the start of MLB's unprecedented summer training camp, just like he did when spring training opened about 4 1/2 months ago. It was on a Zoom call instead of in person this time. When the New York Mets resume practice, 60-year-old hitting coach Chili Davis will be working with hitters remotely and not initially at Citi Field with players and other staff members. The Seattle Mariners have three assistant coaches who fall into the high-risk category for the coronavirus and will work remotely all season. At Fenway Park, weights and other exercise equipment were set up Thursday in the concourse under the seats that Red Sox fans won't be allowed to occupy when the season finally starts. Things certainly are different for baseball's resumption amid the pandemic, three weeks before the start of a 60-game regular season. The Rangers, Mets, Mariners and Red Sox are among the teams set for their first official summer... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Phillies have placed infielder Scott Kingery and pitchers Hector Neris, Ranger Suarez and Tommy Hunter on the 10-day injured list with no specified injuries.The team opens camp on Friday, but the four players won’t be eligible to return until late next week at the earliest.The Phillies had seven players test positive for COVID-19 last month, but manager Joe Girardi couldn’t answer whether any of the players were among them because of medical privacy.“What I can tell you is they’re on the injured list, and that’s about all I can tell you,” Girardi said on Thursday. “MLB has given protocols on how to handle it. I don’t have a timetable on those players. I can’t really answer that question. As soon as I get an answer, I will give it to you.”___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward was going to address his entire team before the start of MLB's unprecedented summer training camp, just like he did when spring training opened about 4 1/2 months ago. It was on a Zoom call instead of in person this time. When the New York Mets resume practice, 60-year-old hitting coach Chili Davis will be working with hitters remotely and not initially at Citi Field with players and other staff members. The Seattle Mariners have three assistant coaches who fall into the high-risk category for the coronavirus and will work remotely all season. At Fenway Park, weights and other exercise equipment were set up Thursday in the concourse under the seats that Red Sox fans won't be allowed to occupy when the season finally starts. Things certainly are different for baseball's resumption amid the pandemic, three weeks before the start of a 60-game regular season. The Rangers, Mets, Mariners and Red Sox are among the teams set for their first official summer... [More]

Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward was going to address his entire team before the start of MLB's unprecedented summer training camp, just like he did when spring training opened about 4 1/2 months ago. It was on a Zoom call instead of in person this time. When the New York Mets resume practice, 60-year-old hitting coach Chili Davis will be working with hitters remotely and not at Citi Field with the players and other staff members. At Fenway Park, weights and other exercise equipment were set up Thursday in the concourse under the seats that Red Sox fans won't be occupying when the season finally starts. Things certainly are different for baseball's resumption amid the coronavirus pandemic, three weeks before the start of a 60-game regular season. The Rangers, Mets and Red Sox are among the teams set for their first official summer workouts Friday, along with the defending World Series champion Washington Nationals minus first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and pitcher Joe Ross after they opted... [More]

July 81912 — Rube Marquard’s 19-game winning streak was stopped when the New York Giants lost 7-2 to the Chicago Cubs.1935 — The AL extended its All-Star winning streak to three with a 4-1 victory at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium. New York Yankee Lefty Gomez went six innings, which prompted the NL to have the rules changed so that no pitcher could throw more than three innings, unless extra innings.1941 — Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox hit a three-run, two-out homer in the ninth to give the AL a dramatic 7-5 victory in the All-Star game at Detroit’s Briggs Stadium. Up to that point Arky Vaughn of the Pittsburgh Pirates was the NL hero with two home runs, the first player to do so in All-Star play. Joe and Dom DiMaggio both played for the AL, marking the first time that brothers appeared in the same All-Star game.1947 — Frank Shea became the first winning rookie pitcher in the first 14 years of All-Star play as the AL nipped the NL 2-1 at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.1952 — The NL edged the... [More]

July 31912 — Rube Marquard of the New York Giants raised his season record to 19-0 with a 2-1 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers. His winning streak ended five days later against the Chicago Cubs.1939 — Cleveland’s Ben Chapman ties the modern major-league record with three triples in a 4-2 win over the Detroit Tigers.1939 — Johnny Mize of St. Louis hit two home runs, a triple and a double, leading the Cardinals to a 5-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Mize drove in three runs and scored three times.1947 — The Cleveland Indians purchased Larry Doby from the Newark Eagles of the Negro National League, making him the first black player in the American League.1966 — Atlanta pitcher Tony Cloninger became the first National League player to hit two grand slams in one game. He added a single for nine RBIs in a 17-3 triumph over San Francisco.1968 — Cleveland’s Luis Tiant struck out 19, walked none in a six-hit 1-0, 10-inning triumph over Minnesota.1970 — California’s Clyde Wright used only 98 pitches... [More]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Catcher Patrick Bailey, the 13th overall pick in last month's amateur draft, has agreed to a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants that includes a $3.8 million signing bonus.The 21-year-old hit .296 with six homers, including three grand slams, and 20 RBIs in 17 games in the pandemic-shortened season as a junior at North Carolina State. He earned the Johnny Bench award as the top division one catcher, an honor also won the Giants' Buster Posey in 2008 and Joey Bart in 2018.He signed for well under the pick's slot value of $4,197,300 to the Giants' signing bonus pool.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

CHICAGO (AP) — An emotional Chicago Cubs pitching coach Tommy Hottovy is recovering from a severe case of COVID-19 that quarantined him for 30 days.The 38-year-old Hottovy broke down as he detailed a harrowing ordeal during a conference call on Wednesday. The Cubs resume workouts Friday for the first time since Major League Baseball shut down camps on March 12.“It's still kind of raw in the fact that we just got through it and to relive it,” said Hottovy, in his second season as the Cubs' pitching coach. “Obviously, it affected us pretty significantly for a month. I felt it was important for me to talk through what I went through because too much of what's out there is the easy stories of what people go through with this.”The former major leaguer learned he had the virus on the third day he felt ill, following a nasal test. He isolated in a spare bedroom with symptoms that got so bad he spent part of one day at the hospital.Hottovy tested negative about two weeks ago and still gets winded... [More]

July 21903 — Washington outfielder Ed Delahanty went over a railroad bridge at Niagara Falls and drowned. The exact circumstances of his death never were determined.1909 — The Chicago White Sox stole 12 bases, including home plate three times, in a 15-3 rout of the St. Louis Browns.1930 — Chicago outfielder Carl Reynolds homered in the first, second and third innings, leading the White Sox to a 15-4 win over the New York Yankees. Reynolds, the second player in history to hit home runs in three consecutive innings, had two inside-the-park homers.1933 — Carl Hubbell of the New York Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals 1-0 in an 18-inning game. He allowed six hits and no walks. In the second game of the doubleheader, the Cardinals were blanked 1-0, with Roy Parmelee outdueling Dizzy Dean.1941 — Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees hit a home run to extend his consecutive game hitting streak to 45 games, surpassing Willie Keeler’s record of 44 straight games for the Orioles in 1897.1963 — Juan... [More]

DENVER (AP) — Colorado Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich says he supports Ian Desmond’s decision to sit out the 2020 season to focus on his young family and help rejuvenate youth baseball in his hometown in Florida.Bridich says he had a pair of recent conversations with the 34-year-old outfielder who announced his decision in a lengthy and heartfelt Instagram post Monday night.Desmond wrote that the “COVID-19 pandemic has made this baseball season one that is a risk I am not comfortable taking.” The biracial slugger also mentioned a myriad of issues within baseball, including sexism, homophobia and socioeconomic concerns, as well as the racial reckoning that emerged after George Floyd’s death while in police custody in Minneapolis sparked protests around the world.“The conversations with Ian felt the exact same that his written words feel to me,” Bridich said, “which is from the heart and honest. ... I did not know that he was going to write something as thoughtful and as comprehensive... [More]

Trying to find out the status of a baseball player coming back from an ankle injury definitely will be easier than learning whether someone tested positive for the coronavirus.Major League Baseball said Tuesday that a team will not specifically announce a COVID-19 injured list placement for a player who is removed from the club after testing positive, just an IL trip.MLB's operations manual says a positive test, exhibiting symptoms that require isolation for additional assessment or exposure to someone who has had the virus are cause for placement on the new COVID-19 IL.“It would be a speculating circumstance," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told media during a conference call.Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement states that for any medical condition not related to employment “a club may disclose only the fact that a medical condition is preventing the player from rendering services to the club and the anticipated length of the player’s absence from the club.” Cashman noted... [More]

DENVER (AP) — Colorado Rockies general manager Jeff Bridich says he supports Ian Desmond’s decision to sit out the 2020 season to focus on his young family and help rejuvenate youth baseball in his hometown in Florida.Bridich says he had a pair of recent conversations with the 34-year-old outfielder who announced his decision in a lengthy and heartfelt Instagram post Monday night.Desmond wrote that the “COVID-19 pandemic has made this baseball season one that is a risk I am not comfortable taking.” The biracial slugger also mentioned a myriad of issues within baseball, including sexism, homophobia and socioeconomic concerns, as well as the racial reckoning that emerged after George Floyd’s death while in police custody in Minneapolis sparked protests around the world.“The conversations with Ian felt the exact same that his written words feel to me,” Bridich said, “which is from the heart and honest. ... I did not know that he was going to write something as thoughtful and as comprehensive... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Sinkerballing reliever Jared Hughes and the New York Mets agreed Tuesday to a $700,000, one-year contract, a deal that amounts to $259,259 in prorated pay over the 60-game season.Hughes can earn an additional $300,000 for days on the active roster: $50,000 each for 10 and 30, and $100,000 apiece for 45 and 60. The roster bonuses would not be prorated.He had a 6.35 ERA over five appearances and 5 2/3 innings during spring training with Houston and was released March 19, a week after the exhibition season was stopped by the coronavirus pandemic. If he had been added to Houston’s 40-man roster, he would have received a one-year contract with a salary of $1.5 million while in the majors and $150,000 in the minors.A right-hander who turns 35 on July 4, Hughes was 5-5 with a 4.04 ERA last season for Cincinnati and Philadelphia, which claimed him off waivers on Aug. 15. He struck out 54 and walked 27 in 71 1/3 innings, throwing his sinker on about 75% of his pitches. He also throws... [More]

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Padres have acquired middle infielder Jorge Mateo from the Oakland Athletics in the first trade since baseball resumed after a shutdown of more than three months due to the coronavirus pandemic.The Padres will send either a player or cash to the A’s for the 25-year-old Mateo, who will be added to the player pool for the resumption of spring training. The Padres are scheduled to have their first workout Friday at Petco Park. The trade was announced Tuesday.Mateo is a former top prospect with the New York Yankees, who signed him as a non-drafted free agent at 17 out of the Dominican Republic. He is a .267 hitter in eight minor league seasons. He was sent to Oakland in the Sonny Gray trade in 2017. He was with Triple-A Las Vegas in 2019, hitting, .289 with a .834 OPS and a minor league-leading 14 triples in 119 games.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

NEW YORK (AP) — Sinkerballing reliever Jared Hughes and the New York Mets agreed Tuesday to a $700,000, one-year contract, a deal that amounts to $259,259 in prorated pay over the 60-game season.Hughes can earn an additional $300,000 for days on the active roster: $50,000 each for 10 and 30, and $100,000 apiece for 45 and 60. The roster bonuses would not be prorated.He had a 6.35 ERA over five appearances and 5 2/3 innings during spring training with Houston and was released March 19, a week after the exhibition season was stopped by the coronavirus pandemic. If he had been added to Houston’s 40-man roster, he would have received a one-year contract with a salary of $1.5 million while in the majors and $150,000 in the minors.A right-hander who turns 35 on July 4, Hughes was 5-5 with a 4.04 ERA last season for Cincinnati and Philadelphia, which claimed him off waivers on Aug. 15. He struck out 54 and walked 27 in 71 1/3 innings, throwing his sinker on about 75% of his pitches. He also throws... [More]

Trying to find out the status of a baseball player coming back from an ankle injury will definitely be easier than learning whether someone tested positive for the coronavirus.New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said during a conference call Tuesday that teams have not been given clearance to announce which players end up on the injured list due to COVID-19. A positive test, exhibiting symptoms that require isolation for additional assessment or exposure to someone who has had the virus are cause for placement on the COVID-19 IL.“I believe the information I’ve been given is that you’ll be left to try to figure that out because we would not be (able to disclose)," Cashman said. “It would be a speculating circumstance."Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement states that for any medical condition not related to employment “a club may disclose only the fact that a medical condition is preventing the player from rendering services to the club and the anticipated length of the player’s... [More]

Trying to find out the status of a baseball player coming back from an ankle injury will definitely be easier than learning whether someone tested positive for the coronavirus.New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said during a conference call Tuesday that teams have not been given clearance to announce which players end up on the injured list due to COVID-19. A positive test, medical recommendation or exposure to someone who has had the virus could all put players out of action.“I believe the information I’ve been given is that you’ll be left to try to figure that out because we would not be (able to disclose)," Cashman said. “It would be a speculating circumstance."Non-baseball related injuries do not have be explained in detail under terms of the collective bargaining agreement.Cashman noted the situation continues to evolve as Major League Baseball and the players' union continue discussions. Testing of players and staff will begin Wednesday as they report to their teams to... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Given an extra 3 1/2 months for their brittle stars to heal, the New York Yankees will closely monitor the conditioning of Aaron Judge, James Paxton, Aaron Hicks and Giancarlo Stanton ahead of a season unlike any other.“We want these players to withstand a 60-game sprint over a 66-day schedule," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Tuesday on the eve of the first arrivals for “spring” training 2.0, already dubbed summer camp in Major League Baseball's marketing deal.New York had been set to open March 26 at Baltimore with many of its key cogs on the injured list but expects all of them to be available when training resumes this weekend.Sound familiar?New York placed a big league record 30 players on the injured list a total of 39 times last season, then overhauled its training and conditioning staff.“Ultimately, we’re in it to win it,” Cashman said, “and I think everybody else should be feeling the same way. And especially in a shortened season, I think it heightens... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is optimistic Aaron Judge, James Paxton, Aaron Hicks and Giancarlo Stanton will be ready to play in time for New York's rescheduled opener at World Series champion Washington on July 23.Judge did not play in any exhibition games due to discomfort in his right pectoral muscle and shoulder that he felt when swinging. The Yankees said March 6 that the right fielder had a stress fracture to his first right rib, an injury likely dating from a diving catch late last season. Judge later said he had a collapsed lung.Paxton had surgery Feb. 5 to repair a herniated disk in his back and to remove a peridiscal cyst. The left-hander exited his final regular-season start, at Texas on Sept. 27, after one inning with what the Yankees said was a tight left glute muscle, then returned for three postseason starts.After agreeing to a $324 million, nine-year contract, right-hander Gerrit Cole heads a rotation that includes Paxton, righty Masahiro Tanaka,... [More]