The Colorado Rockies have agreed to a minor league deal with right-hander Zach Neal. The 33-year-old spent the last three seasons pitching for the Seibu Lions of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league. He had a 4.49 ERA in 272 1/3 innings in Japan the last three years. Neal was a 17th-round pick by the Miami Marlins in 2010 and made his big-league debut with the Oakland Athletics, posting a 4.24 ERA in 24 outings (six starts). He had a 4.82 ERA in 99 innings at Triple-A in 2017 and allowed 13 runs in 14 2/3 innings with the A's that same season. Neal appeared in only one game for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2018 before being traded to the Cincinnati Reds. In 32 Triple-A starts that year, Neal had a 4.63 ERA in 101 innings.

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese baseball managed to do what American baseball has not — play ball.After a three-month delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the world's second-most famous baseball competition opened a season Friday that will be shortened from its regular 143 games to 120. That, of course, is twice as many as MLB figures to play — if it plays at all.The regular season had been scheduled to start March 20. It is slated to end on Nov. 7, followed by postseason play.It wasn't a perfect start, but all 12 league teams played. Two of the games were in open-air stadiums in Tokyo and Yokohama. They started about 30 minutes late with rain threatening. The other four were in domed facilities in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka and Saitama prefecture northwest of Tokyo.“I’m very happy, very excited about today’s game,” said Alex Ramírez, the manager of the Central League's Yokohama BayStars. “Just to think about all the time we’ve had to wait, and stuff like that. It’s just the best feeling.”All games... [More]