Orioles draft 7-foot pitcher, would be tallest ever in MLB
LOS ANGELES — The Baltimore Orioles aimed high with their 13th-round draft pick. A full seven feet — and that’s before their new pitching prospect gets on the mound. The O’s selected 7-foot left-hander Jared Beck from Saint Leo University with the first pick in Round 13 of baseball’s amateur...
Blackhawk grad Michael Turconi selected by Toronto Blue Jays in 15th round
Michael Turconi is among the latest Western Pennsylvania products to be selected in the 2022 MLB Draft. The Blackhawk graduate and redshirt junior on the Wake Forest baseball team was drafted Tuesday afternoon by the Toronto Blue Jays with the No. 458 pick in the 15th round. Turconi follows a...
Juan Soto overcomes competition, contract talk to win Home Run DerbyVideo
LOS ANGELES — Juan Soto bet heavily on his own talent and health by turning down a massive, long-term contract extension from the Washington Nationals. Soto then went to the Home Run Derby at Dodger Stadium and showed why he almost certainly can’t lose. Soto won the Derby for the...
St. Louis Cardinals draft former Allderdice pitcher Tanner Jacobson in 10th round
Allderdice graduate Tanner Jacobson on Monday became the first player in the short history of Queens University baseball to be picked in the MLB Draft. The St. Louis Cardinals chose the right-handed pitcher in the 10th round with pick No. 307, a milestone moment for the NCAA Division II baseball...
Baltimore Orioles draft former Canon-McMillan pitcher Cameron Weston
Former Canon-McMillan star Cameron Weston, who helped win WPIAL and PIAA baseball titles in 2018, was selected Monday in the eighth round of the MLB Draft by the Baltimore Orioles. Weston was picked 227th overall. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound right-hander finished his junior season at Michigan, where he ranked among the...
Clayton Kershaw, Shohei Ohtani brightest All-Stars in LA showcaseVideo
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw are two-way praisers. Six miles from Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, LA’s biggest baseball stars open the All-Star Game on Tuesday night when it returns to Dodger Stadium for the first time in 42 years. Kershaw, the Dodgers’ three-time Cy Young Award winner,...
Cubs draft son of ex-Cardinals slugger Mark McGwireVideo
LOS ANGELES — The McGwire family is set to see the other side of things in one of baseball’s best rivalries. Mason McGwire, son of 12-time All-Star slugger Mark, was selected in the eighth round of baseball’s amateur draft by the Chicago Cubs on Monday. Mark spent five of his...
All-Star Game decided by a HR derby if tied after 9 inningsVideo
LOS ANGELES — Pete Alonso was in the visitors’ clubhouse at Truist Park last week when an attendant made a puzzling request: Would the New York Mets slugger take a call from Atlanta Braves skipper Brian Snitker? “Why is the opposing manager calling me?” Alonso recalled thinking. He quickly found...
Clayton Kershaw to start All-Star Game for NL, Shane McClanahan for ALVideo
LOS ANGELES — Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw will start for the National League on Tuesday night in the first All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium since 1980, and Tampa Bay’s Shane McClanahan will be on the mound for the American League. Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani will lead off...
Exploring Juan Soto trades – no matter how far-fetched
The trade deadline became a bit more suspenseful over the weekend when The Athletic reported that Washington outfielder Juan Soto turned down a $440 million, 15-year offer to stay with the Nationals. Suddenly, social media was ablaze with talk of Soto possibly being traded, and what kind of incredible offer...
Pitch clocks, shift limits, larger bases in MLB’s future
LOS ANGELES — Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and the rest of major league pitchers are likely to be looking over their shoulders next season: at a pitch clock. Clocks have cut the length of minor league games by about a half-hour this year, and baseball officials appear certain to promote...
Sons of All-Stars Matt Holliday, Andruw Jones go 1-2 in MLB DraftVideo
LOS ANGELES — Jackson Holliday and Druw Jones, sons of All-Stars Matt and Andruw, were taken by Baltimore and Arizona with the first two picks in baseball’s amateur draft Sunday night. Holliday, whose father is a former batting champion, was chosen by Baltimore over Jones in somewhat of a surprise....
MVP Mike Trout joins Bryce Harper on All-Star sidelines, 4 players addedVideo
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout will miss the All-Star Game because of back spasms, joining Bryce Harper on the sidelines and depriving the showcase of two of baseball’s best-known players. Trout, a three-time American League MVP, has not played since Tuesday and was scratched from the...
Home runs propel AL past NL in MLB Futures GameVideo
LOS ANGELES — New York Yankees prospect Jasson Dominguez and Minnesota’s Matt Wallner hit two-run homers in the third inning, leading the American League over the National League, 6-4, on Saturday in the annual Futures Game of top prospects. Dominguez, at 19 the second-youngest prospect at the game behind Miami...
Report: Nationals star Soto turns down $440 million contractVideo
WASHINGTON — Washington Nationals star outfielder Juan Soto expressed irritation Saturday hours after a report he turned down a record contract with the rebuilding club. The Athletic, citing unidentified sources, reported Soto turned down a $440 million, 15-year contract offer to remain with the Nationals that would have been the...
Altuve, Arenado, Chisholm, Rodón won’t play in All-Star GameVideo
Houston second baseman Jose Altuve, San Francisco Giants pitcher Carlos Rodón, St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado and Miami Marlins second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. won’t be playing in Tuesday’s All-Star Game. Altuve, an eight-time All-Star who was selected as a starter in fan voting, was struck on the...
Fox Chapel’s Patrick Monteverde’s baseball journey in high gear in High-A ball
Patrick Monteverde took an unusual path toward becoming a Major League Baseball draft choice. So it’s only proper that a possible road to Miami winds through Beloit, Wisc. The 2016 Fox Chapel graduate is currently pitching – and pitching well – for the Beloit SkyCarp, a High-A affiliate of the...
Hard-throwing Kumar Rocker ready for his second MLB draft
TROY, N.Y. — Kumar Rocker is ready for a second go-round in the MLB draft. A year after he was the lone first-round pick to not sign with a team, the hard-throwing right-hander and former Vanderbilt star is fresh from a brief professional tune-up that has him on track to...
MLB to pay minor leaguers $185 million to settle lawsuitVideo
NEW YORK — Major League Baseball agreed to pay minor leaguers $185 million to settle a federal lawsuit alleging violations of minimum wage laws, a case that progressed through the courts for eight years without reaching a trial. An early estimate is that perhaps 20,000 players could share the money....
Scherzer, Harper, others discuss how NL DH rule changes gameVideo
Max Scherzer misses hitting. He misses pitching to pitchers. And yet the New York Mets right-hander is just fine with the full-time addition of the designated hitter to the National League as of this season, nearly 50 years after the American League adopted it. “The biggest benefit,” the three-time Cy...
HR Derby matchups set: Top-seeded Kyle Schwarber vs. Albert Pujols
NEW YORK — The matchups are set for baseball’s Home Run Derby. Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber will be the top seed next Monday at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles thanks to his 28 home runs through Wednesday — most among the eight players in the field. Schwarber will face...
First Call: Cameron Heyward’s practical view on Acrisure Stadium name change; Pirates head to Colorado
Friday’s “First Call” has a hot take from Steelers captain Cameron Heyward on the new name for Heinz Field. A former Penn State star is running out of time to avoid the franchise tag. The Pirates will miss facing a former teammate at Coors Field. And Jaromir Jagr wants NHL...
Freddie Freeman’s ex-agent sues Doug Gottlieb over tweet about Braves negotiations
ST. LOUIS — Almost three weeks ago, Freddie Freeman fired his agents at Excel Sports Management as his representatives in the wake of a dramatic offseason free-agency process. In a libel lawsuit filed Thursday by Excel and its lead agent, Casey Close, against sports radio personality Doug Gottlieb, the agency...
10 unvaccinated Royals players skipping trip to Toronto
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals spent Thursday patching up a roster missing 10 players who were barred from traveling to Toronto because of their covid-19 vaccination status while trying to smooth over their damaged image among fans. Among the nearly 40% of players on the 26-man roster...
Blue Jays fire Montoyo, promote Schneider for rest of season
TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays fired manager Charlie Montoyo on Wednesday and promoted bench coach John Schneider to interim manager for the remainder of the season. Triple-A manager Casey Candaele was named interim bench coach. The 13th manager in Blue Jays history, and the first from Puerto Rico, Montoyo...
