NEW YORK (AP) — Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a stunning homer off an otherwise dominant Jacob deGrom, Trevor Rogers beat the two-time Cy Young Award winner for the second time and the Miami Marlins blanked the New York Mets 3-0 on Saturday. DeGrom (0-1) matched a career best with 14 strikeouts over eight innings, Rogers fanned 10 in six and the teams combined for 28 overall. The 23-year-old Rogers (1-1) outpitched deGrom for the second time in nine major league starts. The left-hander got his first big league win against him in a 5-3 victory last Aug. 31. This was his second. A 2017 first-round draft pick, Rogers cruised in his third career outing against New York. He scattered three hits and two walks, retiring 11 straight in one stretch. Rogers mixed a fastball averaging 95 mph with a slider and changeup, inducing 19 swing-and-misses among his 82 pitches. He ended his outing with strikeouts of Michael Conforto and Pete Alonso, stranding two runners to preserve a 1-0 lead. Dylan Floro followed... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a stunning homer off an otherwise dominant Jacob deGrom, Trevor Rogers beat the two-time Cy Young Award winner for the second time and the Miami Marlins blanked the New York Mets 3-0 on Saturday. DeGrom (0-1) matched a career best with 14 strikeouts over eight innings, Rogers fanned 10 in six and the teams combined for 28 overall. The 23-year-old Rogers (1-1) outpitched deGrom for the second time in nine major league starts. The left-hander got his first big league win against him in a 5-3 victory last Aug. 31. This was his second. A 2017 first-round draft pick, Rogers cruised in his third career outing against New York. He scattered three hits and two walks, retiring 11 straight in one stretch. Rogers mixed a fastball averaging 95 mph with a slider and changeup, inducing 19 swing-and-misses among his 82 pitches. He ended his outing with strikeouts of Michael Conforto and Pete Alonso, stranding two runners to preserve a 1-0 lead. Dylan Floro followed... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a stunning homer off an otherwise dominant Jacob deGrom, Trevor Rogers beat the two-time Cy Young Award winner for the second time and the Miami Marlins blanked the New York Mets 3-0 on Saturday. DeGrom (0-1) matched a career best with 14 strikeouts over eight innings, Rogers fanned 10 in six and the teams combined for 28 overall. The 23-year-old Rogers (1-1) outpitched deGrom for the second time in nine major league starts. The left-hander got his first big league win against him in a 5-3 victory last Aug. 31. This was his second. A 2017 first-round draft pick, Rogers cruised in his third career outing against New York. He scattered three hits and two walks, retiring 11 straight in one stretch. Rogers mixed a fastball averaging 95 mph with a slider and changeup, inducing 19 swing-and-misses among his 82 pitches. He ended his outing with strikeouts of Michael Conforto and Pete Alonso, stranding two runners to preserve a 1-0 lead. Dylan Floro followed... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a stunning homer off an otherwise dominant Jacob deGrom, Trevor Rogers beat the two-time Cy Young Award winner for the second time and the Miami Marlins blanked the New York Mets 3-0 on Saturday. DeGrom (0-1) matched a career best with 14 strikeouts over eight innings, Rogers fanned 10 in six and the teams combined for 28 overall. The 23-year-old Rogers (1-1) outpitched deGrom for the second time in nine major league starts. The left-hander got his first big league win against him in a 5-3 victory last Aug. 31. This was his second. A 2017 first-round draft pick, Rogers cruised in his third career outing against New York. He scattered three hits and two walks, retiring 11 straight in one stretch. Rogers mixed a fastball averaging 95 mph with a slider and changeup, inducing 19 swing-and-misses among his 82 pitches. He ended his outing with strikeouts of Michael Conforto and Pete Alonso, stranding two runners to preserve a 1-0 lead. Dylan Floro followed... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a stunning homer off an otherwise dominant Jacob deGrom, Trevor Rogers beat the two-time Cy Young Award winner for the second time and the Miami Marlins blanked the New York Mets 3-0 on Saturday. DeGrom (0-1) matched a career best with 14 strikeouts over eight innings, Rogers fanned 10 in six and the teams combined for 28 overall. The 23-year-old Rogers (1-1) outpitched deGrom for the second time in nine major league starts. The left-hander got his first big league win against him in a 5-3 victory last Aug. 31. This was his second. A 2017 first-round draft pick, Rogers cruised in his third career outing against New York. He scattered three hits and two walks, retiring 11 straight in one stretch. Rogers mixed a fastball averaging 95 mph with a slider and changeup, inducing 19 swing-and-misses among his 82 pitches. He ended his outing with strikeouts of Michael Conforto and Pete Alonso, stranding two runners to preserve a 1-0 lead. Dylan Floro followed... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich and the Milwaukee Brewers showed signs this spring that they’ll bounce back from the slump that engulfed virtually their entire lineup last year. Of course, they aren't taking anything for granted until they perform when the games matter. They'll get their first chance in Thursday's opener against the Minnesota Twins. “I feel like I'm in a good place and where I want to be heading into the season," Yelich said. "So I'm excited to get things started.” Milwaukee is seeking a fourth straight postseason berth after sneaking into the playoffs last year with a 29-31 record despite ranking 27th out of 30 major league teams in runs per game. Hitters up and down their lineup failed to reach their career norms. Yelich, the 2018 NL MVP, hit just .205 last season after winning batting titles in 2018 and 2019. Keston Hiura batted .212 and had an NL-high 85 strikeouts last year after posting a .938 OPS as a rookie in 2019. Omar Narváez saw his average plunge from .278... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich and the Milwaukee Brewers showed signs this spring that they’ll bounce back from the slump that engulfed virtually their entire lineup last year. Of course, they aren't taking anything for granted until they perform when the games matter. They'll get their first chance in Thursday's opener against the Minnesota Twins. “Spring training is very different than the regular season,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “But, given some of the performances we had last year, having guys going into the regular season with a really good frame of mind, with confidence, with belief in themselves and each other, I think there’s a degree of importance to it. I know as well as anyone that this can all change in one direction or another after a week.” Milwaukee is seeking a fourth straight postseason berth after sneaking into the playoffs last year with a 29-31 record despite ranking 27th out of 30 major league teams in runs per game. Hitters up and down... [More]

Milwaukee’s Keston Hiura couldn’t ever remember playing first base during a game in high school, college or the professional ranks before this year. Yet that’s where he'll be most often this season. Hiura had been Milwaukee’s starting second baseman for the last two years but is moving to first as the Brewers make room for newly acquired Kolten Wong at second. “A lot of people have been giving me tips and I’ve just constantly been asking questions because I’m just trying to figure out where to be in every single position, whether it’s fielding a ground ball or taking a cut-off,” Hiura said from the Brewers’ spring training site at Phoenix. “It’s just to keep your mind working for every single situation that could come up.” The first step was finding a mitt. Hiura didn’t want to start the season with a brand-new first baseman’s mitt that hadn’t been broken in. For now, he’s borrowing the first baseman’s mitt of teammate Travis Shaw, who has played both third and first. “When you get a new... [More]

Whether they did it by design or responded to the market forces at work, the Milwaukee Brewers found an intriguing way to try gaining an edge over their NL Central rivals. Rather than focusing on an offense that slumbered for much of last season, they added position players better known for fielding prowess. By signing former St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong and ex-Boston Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr., the Brewers have four former Gold Glove winners on their roster. “One of the ways we’re going to prevent runs this year is with defense,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We’ve invested in that this year. There is scoring runs and there is preventing runs. We’re going to try to be really good at preventing runs this year.” Wong was a Gold Glove second baseman each of the last two years. Bradley won a Gold Glove in 2018 and was a finalist in 2014, 2016 and 2019. They join a lineup already featuring 2014 Gold Glove left fielder Christian Yelich and 2019 Gold Glove center... [More]

Whether they did it by design or responded to the market forces at work, the Milwaukee Brewers found an intriguing way to try gaining an edge over their NL Central rivals. Rather than focusing on an offense that slumbered for much of last season, they added position players better known for fielding prowess. By signing former St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong and ex-Boston Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr., the Brewers have four former Gold Glove winners on their roster. “One of the ways we’re going to prevent runs this year is with defense,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We’ve invested in that this year. There is scoring runs and there is preventing runs. We’re going to try to be really good at preventing runs this year.” Wong was a Gold Glove second baseman each of the last two years. Bradley won a Gold Glove in 2018 and was a finalist in 2014, 2016 and 2019. They join a lineup already featuring 2014 Gold Glove left fielder Christian Yelich and 2019 Gold Glove center... [More]

Whether they did it by design or responded to the market forces at work, the Milwaukee Brewers found an intriguing way to try gaining an edge over their NL Central rivals. Rather than focusing on an offense that slumbered for much of last season, they added position players better known for fielding prowess. By signing former St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong and ex-Boston Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr., the Brewers have four former Gold Glove winners on their roster. “One of the ways we’re going to prevent runs this year is with defense,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We’ve invested in that this year. There is scoring runs and there is preventing runs. We’re going to try to be really good at preventing runs this year.” Wong was a Gold Glove second baseman each of the last two years. Bradley won a Gold Glove in 2018 and was a finalist in 2014, 2016 and 2019. They join a lineup already featuring 2014 Gold Glove left fielder Christian Yelich and 2019 Gold Glove center... [More]

Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell has a pretty simple formula for boosting a lineup that struggled throughout the abbreviated 2020 season. His hitters just need to produce the way they typically have throughout their careers. “We had guys that just didn’t perform last year offensively,” Counsell said Thursday in his first media session since Brewers pitchers and catchers reported to spring training in Phoenix. “It was puzzling. It was out of the norm.” The most notable case involved 2018 NL MVP Christian Yelich, who hit just .205 last year after winning batting titles in 2018 and 2019. But he wasn’t the only Brewers hitter who failed to perform up to expectations. The Brewers scored 4.1 runs per game to rank 27th out of 30 MLB teams last year as they slipped into the playoffs with a 29-31 record. Their .223 team batting average placed them 26th. Their 582 strikeouts were the second-highest total of any MLB team, behind only the Tampa Bay Rays. Keston Hiura batted .212 and had an... [More]

A team-by-team look at the National League Central entering spring training, including key players each club acquired and lost, and dates of the first workout for pitchers and catchers, and the full squad: ___ Chicago Cubs Manager: David Ross (second season). 2020: 34-26, first place, lost to Marlins in first round of playoffs. Training Town: Mesa, Arizona. Park: Sloan Park. First Workout: Feb. 17/22. He’s Here: OF Joc Pederson, RHP Zach Davies, RHP Trevor Williams, RHP Kohl Stewart, C Austin Romine, OF Jake Marisnick (deal pending), OF Phillip Ervin, RHP Jonathan Holder, RHP Robert Stock, INF Sergio Alcántara. He’s Outta Here: RHP Yu Darvish, OF Kyle Schwarber, LHP Jon Lester, LHP José Quintana, OF Albert Almora, Jr., C Victor Caratini, 2B Jason Kipnis, RHP Tyler Chatwood, RHP Jeremy Jeffress, OF Cameron Maybin, OF Billy Hamilton, OF José Martínez. Going campin’: Ross was impressive in his first year as manager, guiding Chicago to the NL Central title during the pandemic-shortened season.... [More]

A team-by-team look at the National League Central entering spring training, including key players each club acquired and lost, and dates of the first workout for pitchers and catchers, and the full squad: ___ Chicago Cubs Manager: David Ross (second season). 2020: 34-26, first place, lost to Marlins in first round of playoffs. Training Town: Mesa, Arizona. Park: Sloan Park. First Workout: Feb. 17/22. He’s Here: OF Joc Pederson, RHP Zach Davies, RHP Trevor Williams, RHP Kohl Stewart, C Austin Romine, OF Jake Marisnick (deal pending), OF Phillip Ervin, RHP Jonathan Holder, RHP Robert Stock, INF Sergio Alcántara. He’s Outta Here: RHP Yu Darvish, OF Kyle Schwarber, LHP Jon Lester, LHP José Quintana, OF Albert Almora, Jr., C Victor Caratini, 2B Jason Kipnis, RHP Tyler Chatwood, RHP Jeremy Jeffress, OF Cameron Maybin, OF Billy Hamilton, OF José Martínez. Going campin’: Ross was impressive in his first year as manager, guiding Chicago to the NL Central title during the pandemic-shortened season.... [More]

A team-by-team look at the National League Central entering spring training, including key players each club acquired and lost, and dates of the first workout for pitchers and catchers, and the full squad: ___ Chicago Cubs Manager: David Ross (second season). 2020: 34-26, first place, lost to Marlins in first round of playoffs. Training Town: Mesa, Arizona. Park: Sloan Park. First Workout: Feb. 17/22. He’s Here: OF Joc Pederson, RHP Zach Davies, RHP Trevor Williams, RHP Kohl Stewart, C Austin Romine, OF Phillip Ervin, RHP Jonathan Holder, RHP Robert Stock, INF Sergio Alcántara. He’s Outta Here: RHP Yu Darvish, OF Kyle Schwarber, LHP Jon Lester, LHP José Quintana, OF Albert Almora, Jr., C Victor Caratini, 2B Jason Kipnis, RHP Tyler Chatwood, RHP Jeremy Jeffress, OF Cameron Maybin, OF Billy Hamilton, OF José Martínez. Going campin’: Ross was impressive in his first year as manager, guiding Chicago to the NL Central title during the pandemic-shortened season. But it doesn’t get any easier... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kolten Wong is leaving St. Louis behind but staying in the NL Central as the Milwaukee Brewers reshape the right side of their infield by adding a Gold Glove second baseman. Wong and the Brewers finalized their $18 million, two-year contract on Friday. He gets a $1 million signing bonus, a $7 million salary this year, of which $5 million is deferred without interest, and $8 million in 2022. The deferred money is due in $1.25 million payments on June 30 and Dec. 15 in 2023 and 2024. Wong's deal includes a $10 million team option for 2023 with a $2 million buyout that would be due in $1 million installments on Dec. 15, 2023, and Dec. 14, 2024. Milwaukee is making room for Wong in its infield by shifting Keston Hiura from second base to first base. St. Louis had declined a $12.5 million 2021 option for Wong in October, making him eligible for free agency. “It took me a little bit to kind of get my head around the whole thing,” Wong said. “Obviously being a Cardinal for as... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kolten Wong is leaving St. Louis behind but staying in the NL Central as the Milwaukee Brewers reshape the right side of their infield by adding a Gold Glove second baseman. Wong and the Brewers finalized their $18 million, two-year contract on Friday, a deal that includes a 2023 club option. Milwaukee is making room for Wong in its infield by shifting Keston Hiura from second base to first base. St. Louis had declined a $12.5 million 2021 option for Wong in October, making him eligible for free agency. “It took me a little bit to kind of get my head around the whole thing,” Wong said. “Obviously being a Cardinal for as long as I’ve been, there’s a lot of memories, there’s a lot of good things I created there. But also seeing from across (the field) how the Brewers play, how they go about their business and the type of team this is, it just fits my mold really well. It’s a grinding team, a team that just goes out there and competes every single day.” Wong has earned Gold... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kolten Wong is leaving St. Louis behind but staying in the NL Central as the Milwaukee Brewers reshape the right side of their infield by adding a Gold Glove second baseman. Wong and the Brewers finalized their $18 million, two-year contract on Friday, a deal that includes a 2023 club option. Milwaukee is making room for Wong in its infield by shifting Keston Hiura from second base to first base. St. Louis had declined a $12.5 million 2021 option for Wong in December, making him eligible for free agency. “It took me a little bit to kind of get my head around the whole thing,” Wong said. “Obviously being a Cardinal for as long as I’ve been, there’s a lot of memories, there’s a lot of good things I created there. But also seeing from across (the field) how the Brewers play, how they go about their business and the type of team this is, it just fits my mold really well. It’s a grinding team, a team that just goes out there and competes every single day.” Wong has earned Gold... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kolten Wong is leaving St. Louis behind but staying in the NL Central as the Milwaukee Brewers reshape the right side of their infield by adding a Gold Glove second baseman Wong and the Brewers finalized their $18 million, two-year contract on Friday, a deal that includes a 2023 club option. Milwaukee is making room for Wong in their infield by shifting Keston Hiura from second base to first base. St. Louis had declined a $12.5 million 2021 option for Wong in December, making him eligible for free agency. “It took me a little bit to kind of get my head around the whole thing,” Wong said. “Obviously being a Cardinal for as long as I’ve been, there’s a lot of memories, there’s a lot of good things I created there. But also seeing from across (the field) how the Brewers play, how they go about their business and the type of team this is, it just fits my mold really well. It’s a grinding team, a team that just goes out there and competes every single day.” Wong has earned Gold... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kolten Wong is leaving St. Louis behind but staying in the NL Central as the Milwaukee Brewers reshape the right side of their infield by adding a Gold Glove second baseman Wong and the Brewers finalized their $18 million, two-year contract on Friday, a deal that includes a 2023 club option. Milwaukee is making room for Wong in their infield by shifting Keston Hiura from second base to first base. St. Louis had declined a $12.5 million 2021 option for Wong in December, making him eligible for free agency. “It took me a little bit to kind of get my head around the whole thing,” Wong said. “Obviously being a Cardinal for as long as I’ve been, there’s a lot of memories, there’s a lot of good things I created there. But also seeing from across (the field) how the Brewers play, how they go about their business and the type of team this is, it just fits my mold really well. It’s a grinding team, a team that just goes out there and competes every single day.” Wong has earned Gold... [More]