BOSTON (AP) — Chris Sale: Great pitcher, lousy patient. Moments after Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters “We've got to be disciplined,” his injured ace showed that might be the biggest challenge in his comeback from Tommy John surgery. “If it was up to me, I’d be starting tomorrow,” Sale said after throwing 25 pitches in a bullpen session at Fenway Park on Tuesday, joking: “I told AC I was ready for the second one in Atlanta (in eight days), because I want to hit. I left it up to him, though." A seven-time All-Star, Sale was 103-62 with 2.89 ERA in his first nine major league seasons, joining the Red Sox in 2017 and leading them to the World Series championship the next year. But he had the worst year of his career in 2019, posting a 6-11 record with a 4.40 ERA, and then he missed all of last season following March 2020 surgery to replace the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow. The operation usually requires a minimum of 12 months of rehab, but can take as much as two years.... [More]

A look at what’s happening around the majors today: ___ COUNT ’EM! Major League Baseball is full of huge numbers — 4,256 hits by Pete Rose, 511 wins for Cy Young, 2,632 consecutive games played by Cal Ripken Jr. Real soon, the sport will reach a big, round number: 20,000 total players. There had been 19,989 players in MLB history going into the weekend, according to baseballreference.com, boosted by Seattle rookies Jarred Kelenic and Logan Gilbert making their debuts Thursday night. The list that began in 1871 ranges from A to Z. First on the alphabetical chart is pitcher David Aardsma, who moved into the top spot ahead of Hank Aaron when he started out in 2004 for San Francisco. Aardsma’s last season was 2015 — that was the same year the player last on the list, pitcher Tony Zych, made his debut with the Mariners. Of all the nearly 20,000 players so far to get into at least one game, 266 have reached the Hall of Fame. Walter Alston played two innings in his only game in 1936 for the Cardinals,... [More]

A look at what’s happening around the majors Saturday: ___ COUNT ’EM! Major League Baseball is full of huge numbers — 4,256 hits by Pete Rose, 511 wins for Cy Young, 2,632 consecutive games played by Cal Ripken Jr. Real soon, the sport will reach a big, round number: 20,000 total players. There had been 19,989 players in MLB history going into the weekend, according to baseballreference.com, boosted by Seattle rookies Jarred Kelenic and Logan Gilbert making their debuts Thursday night. The list that began in 1871 ranges from A to Z. First on the alphabetical chart is pitcher David Aardsma, who moved into the top spot ahead of Hank Aaron when he started out in 2004 for San Francisco. Aardsma’s last season was 2015 — that was the same year the player last on the list, pitcher Tony Zych, made his debut with the Mariners. Of all the nearly 20,000 players so far to get into at least one game, 266 have reached the Hall of Fame. Walter Alston played two innings in his only game in 1936 for the... [More]

A look at what’s happening around the majors Saturday: ____ COUNT ’EM! Major League Baseball is full of huge numbers — 4,256 hits by Pete Rose, 511 wins for Cy Young, the 2,632 straight games by Cal Ripken Jr. Real soon, the sport will reach a big, round number: 20,000 total players. There had been 19,989 players in MLB history going into the weekend, according to baseballreference.com, boosted by Seattle rookies Jarred Kelenic and Logan Gilbert making their debuts Thursday night. The list that began in 1871 ranges from A to Z. First on the alphabetical chart is pitcher David Aardsma, who moved into the top spot ahead of Hank Aaron when he started out in 2004 for San Francisco. Aardsma’s last season was 2015 — that was the same year the player last on the list, pitcher Tony Zych, made his debut with the Mariners. Of all the nearly 20,000 players so far to get into at least one game, 266 have reached the Hall of Fame. Walter Alston played two innings in his only game in 1936 for the Cardinals,... [More]

The Boston Red Sox on Friday scratched Eduardo Rodriguez as the opening day starter because of a “dead arm” that pushed back his final spring tuneup. Nathan Eovaldi will face the Baltimore Orioles in the April 1 opener instead. Manager Alex Cora said Rodriguez missed a bullpen session on Wednesday, two days after lasting just two innings in a spring training start. He played catch Thursday and felt fine, and Cora said after Friday's 7-3 loss to the Rays that Rodriguez would have a bullpen session on Saturday. “With the schedule the way it is, he won’t be able to post,” said Cora, who had announced Rodriguez as the opening day starter last week. “It doesn’t add up. You start adding days and you run out of days.” Rodriguez had also been pegged to start the 2020 season opener before it was delayed by the coronavirus outbreak. The 27-year-old left-hander contracted COVID-19 and related heart problems that kept him from pitching at all last season. Cora said the current issue is unrelated to... [More]

The Boston Red Sox on Friday scratched Eduardo Rodriguez as the opening day starter because of a “dead arm” that pushed back his final spring tuneup. Nathan Eovaldi will face the Baltimore Orioles in the April 1 opener instead. Manager Alex Cora said Rodriguez missed a bullpen session on Wednesday, two days after lasting just two innings in a spring training start against Tampa Bay. He played catch Thursday and felt fine, Cora said. “With the schedule the way it is, he won’t be able to post,” said Cora, who had announced Rodriguez as the opening day starter last week. “It doesn’t add up. You start adding days and you run out of days.” Rodriguez had also been pegged to start the 2020 season opener before it was delayed by the coronavirus outbreak. The 27-year-old left-hander contracted COVID-19 and related heart problems that kept him from pitching at all last season. Cora said the current issue is unrelated to the myocarditis. “It's just dead arm,” the manager said, adding, "going into... [More]

Bobby Dalbec knows not to put too much value in spring training statistics, and yet the Boston Red Sox rookie is putting up numbers that can't be ignored. “Hitting a home run never feels bad,” he said Wednesday in a teleconference from the team’s complex in Fort Myers, Florida. Dalbec has six homers so far this spring, tying him for the most in baseball with teammate Michael Chavis and Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager. Dalbec, who according to Baseball America is the No. 3 prospect in the organization, is batting .308 and also leads the majors with 14 runs and leads the Florida teams with 13 RBIs this spring. That's more than enough to make manager Alex Cora overlook the 16 strikeouts in 39 at-bats. But not enough to get him out of the No. 9 spot in the batting order. “Somebody has to hit eighth; somebody has to hit ninth. If you look up and down our lineup, it just fits,” Cora said. "I do believe this is a great way to maximize your lineup. If you are the opposition, there’s no breathing... [More]

A year after a bout with COVID-19 denied him a chance to be the Red Sox’s opening day starter, Eduardo Rodríguez is getting a do-over. Manager Alex Cora made the announcement Wednesday following Boston’s 9-1 exhibition win over Minnesota. Rodríguez threw an efficient 55 pitches, striking out six and giving up two hits and one earned run over five innings. “Indeed it’s going to be Eduardo. He’s one of the best out there,” Cora said of the left-hander. “He had a great season in ’19. Last year he wasn’t able to pitch for obvious reasons. What he’s shown now, he’s healthy and he’s ready to go. … It was just a matter of time.” Boston opens its schedule April 1 against the Baltimore Orioles. Rodríguez went 13-5 for the Boston team that won a franchise-record 108 games and the World Series in 2018. He came into the next year at the bottom of the rotation behind Chris Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello and Nathan Eovaldi. But Rodríguez had the best season of the group, going 19-6 with a 3.81 ERA... [More]

One by one, the Boston Red Sox have arrived at spring training spouting the same, stubborn message. From Eduardo Rodriguez — “Don’t sleep on us” — to Chris Sale’s — “We plan on going and making some noise” — there is optimism at the team’s complex despite the 24-36 record in the pandemic-shortened season that left them last in the AL East. “2020 did not go the way anybody wanted,” said Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom, who in his first year traded 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts, hired and fired a manager, and dealt with the COVID-19 outbreak. “I don’t want the stain of last year to have people look past the talent that we have,” Bloom said in a Zoom call with reporters on Sunday. “This is a time for hope, for renewal. ... I know that we have just been through a long, cold winter. But it’s important for us to take the time to take a breath, feel lucky that we get to do this and see all the possibilities.” Three days of pitcher and catcher workouts can’t erase everything that went wrong in 2020.... [More]

When Eduardo Rodríguez last pitched for Boston, he was chasing after the milestone of a 20-win season. He fell short. And then things really went wrong. Instead of returning from the pandemic shutdown in July with the rest of baseball, Rodríguez was stuck in bed, sick with the coronavirus. When he recovered from that illness, doctors diagnosed him with myocarditis -- a complication of COVID-19 that affects the heart and wound up costing him the entire 2020 season. “After everything I went through, to be here with the guys, I’m really excited,” the 27-year-old left-hander said in a Zoom call with reporters on Friday from the Red Sox spring training complex in Fort Myers, Florida. “I just thank God I had the chance to survive that and get back to baseball,” he said. “I’m really blessed to have a chance to get back here. You see a lot of people, the troubles that they have, people dying and all that. So having the chance to be back here is something I really feel happy about.” Rodríguez went... [More]

Chris Sale has tried not to think about the future as he began working his way back from Tommy John surgery in April. As virtually the only person at the Red Sox’s training facility in Florida this offseason, it helped keep the 31-year-old left-hander sane as he began the first steps of a recovery program expected to take a minimum of 14 months. He has had a few hurdles that have slowed the process, including neck injury and a mild bout with COVID-19 last month that required him to quarantine for two weeks. But as Boston’s pitchers and catchers arrived in Fort Myers to join him for their first spring training workout on Thursday, Sale said he’s a full-go and is concentrating on checking off each benchmark of his throwing program as he inches closer to a return. “I was here by myself the whole summer, it’s nice to get back and have people around and be like a ballplayer again,” Sale said Thursday. “I’ve never been more excited for spring training. ... Just, you know, feeling normal again.”... [More]

A team-by-team look at the American League East 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: ___ Tampa Bay Rays Manager: Kevin Cash (seventh season). 2020: 40-20, first place, AL champions, lost to Dodgers in World Series. Training Town: Port Charlotte, Florida. Park: Charlotte Sports Park. First Workout: Feb. 18/23. He’s Here: RHP Michael Wacha, RHP Chris Archer, C Francisco Mejia, RHP Luis Patiño. He’s Outta Here: LHP Blake Snell, RHP Charlie Morton, OF Hunter Renfroe, RHP Aaron Slegers, 1B Nate Lowe, LHP Aaron Loup, LHP Jose Alvarado, 1B Brian O’Grady, RHP Chaz Roe, RHP Oliver Drake, LHP Sean Gilmartin. Going campin’: The AL champions are coming off their first division title in a decade and first World Series appearance in 12 years, but they have to replace their top two starting pitchers after declining a $15 million option on Morton and trading Snell to San Diego. The Rays... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Alex Cora is expecting to see the J.D. Martinez of old again in 2021. And the Red Sox manager wouldn't be surprised if Andrew Benintendi and Eduardo Rodríguez bounce back with him. In a call with reporters on Thursday, Cora predicted better things from some of the Boston players who had an off year during the pandemic-shortened season of 2020, when he was serving his sign-stealing suspension and the ballclub stumbled to last place. “I’m not a gambling man, but I’ll bet you $1 that J.D. will have a better season,” Cora said. “I’m watching a lot of games and videos, it was a different hitter. ... I know he recognized toward the end of the season what was wrong with him, but he wasn’t able to take it to the batter’s box.” Martinez finished fourth in AL MVP voting in 2018, when he hit 43 homers and led the league with 130 RBIs while helping the Red Sox win a franchise-record 108 games and the World Series. The team finished third the next year but Martinez was still pretty good,... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Whether rebuilding or reloading, small market or large, Dave Dombrowski has been a big success at every major league stop. His next challenging project: a Philadelphia Phillies team that's gone nine years without a winning record. Dombrowski joined the Phillies as president of baseball operations on Friday. “This is a great day for the Philadelphia Phillies,” managing partner John Middleton said in a statement. “David Dombrowski is one of the most accomplished executives this great game has ever seen, and we are thrilled to welcome him to Philadelphia." Andy MacPhail is the Phillies' current president and has planned to retire after the 2021 season. He said in October he would be willing to step aside sooner to make way for a new baseball operations boss. Philadelphia reassigned general manager Matt Klentak within the organization after finishing 28-32 last season. Joe Girardi remains as manager. “Between David and Joe Girardi, we now have two of the best people in place... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Whether rebuilding or reloading, small market or large, Dave Dombrowski has been a big success at every major league stop. His next challenging project: a Philadelphia Phillies team that's gone nine years without a winning record. Dombrowski is set to join the Phillies as president of baseball operations, according to two people familiar with the decision. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday night because the team hadn’t announced the hire. An official announcement is expected as early as Friday, according to one of the people. Andy MacPhail is the Phillies' current president and has planned to retire after the 2021 season. He said in October he would be willing to step aside sooner to make way for a new baseball operations boss. Philadelphia reassigned general manager Matt Klentak within the organization after finishing 28-32 last season. The 64-year-old Dombrowski has led baseball operations for four teams over more than three... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Whether rebuilding or reloading, Dave Dombrowski has been a big success at every major league stop. His next project: a Philadelphia Phillies team that's gone nine years without a winning record. Dombrowski is set to join the Phillies as president of baseball operations, according to two people familiar with the decision. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday night because the team hadn’t announced the move. An official announcement on the hire is expected as early as Friday, according to one of the people. Andy MacPhail is the Phillies' current president and has planned to retire after the 2021 season. He said in October he would be willing to step aside sooner to make way for a new baseball operations boss. Philadelphia reassigned general manager Matt Klentak within the organization after finishing 28-32 last season. The 64-year-old Dombrowski has led baseball operations for four teams over more than three decades in the majors,... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Whether rebuilding or reloading, Dave Dombrowski has been a big success at every major league stop. His next project: a Philadelphia Phillies team that's gone nine years without a winning record. Dombrowski has been hired by the Phillies as president of baseball operations, according to two people familiar with the decision. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday night because the team hadn’t announced the move. An official announcement is expected as early as Friday, according to one of the people. Andy MacPhail is the Phillies' current president and has planned to retire after the 2021 season. He said in October he would be willing to step aside sooner to make way for a new baseball operations boss. Philadelphia reassigned general manager Matt Klentak within the organization after finishing 28-32 last season. The 64-year-old Dombrowski has led baseball operations for four teams over more than three decades, taking a trio of franchises... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Phillies have hired longtime baseball executive Dave Dombrowski as president of baseball operations, according to two people familiar with the decision. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday night because the team hadn’t announced the move. An official announcement is expected Friday, according to one of the people. Andy MacPhail is the Phillies' current president and has planned to retire after the 2021 season. He said in October he would be willing to step aside sooner to make way for a new baseball operations boss. The 64-year-old Dombrowski has led baseball operations for four teams over more than three decades, taking a trio of franchises to the World Series. His teams have won four pennants and two Series titles. Dombrowski was the youngest general manager in baseball history when he took over the Montreal Expos in 1988 at 31 years old, and he quickly turned the small-market club first into a competitor — then... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Outfielder Adam Eaton and the Chicago White Sox have reunited, finalizing a one-year contract on Thursday that guarantees $8 million. Eaton gets $7 million next season, and the White Sox have an $8.5 million option for 2022 with a $1 million buyout. Eaton played for Chicago from 2014-16 and was dealt to the Washington Nationals at the December 2016 winter meetings for current ace Lucas Giolito, right-hander Dane Dunning and pitcher Reynaldo López. That trade was made one a day after the White Sox dealt former ace Chris Sale to Boston for infielder Yoán Moncada and pitcher Michael Kopech, launching a rebuild that helped vault Chicago to the playoffs last season. Eaton helped the Nationals win the World Series in 2019. They declined their option on him after he hit .226 in 41 games last season. Eaton replaces Nomar Mazara, who struggled last season after being acquired from Texas. Eaton figures to play alongside Gold Glove center fielder Luis Robert, with slugger Eloy Jiménez... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Outfielder Adam Eaton and the Chicago White Sox have reunited, finalizing a one-year contract on Thursday that guarantees $8 million. Eaton gets $7 million next season, and the White Sox have an $8.5 million option for 2022 with a $1 million buyout. Eaton played for Chicago from 2014-16 and was dealt to the Washington Nationals at the December 2016 winter meetings for current ace Lucas Giolito, right-hander Dane Dunning and pitcher Reynaldo López. That trade was made one a day after the White Sox dealt former ace Chris Sale to Boston for infielder Yoán Moncada and pitcher Michael Kopech, launching a rebuild that helped vault Chicago to the playoffs last season. Eaton helped the Nationals win the World Series in 2019. They declined their option on him after he hit .226 in 41 games last season. Eaton replaces Nomar Mazara, who struggled last season after being acquired from Texas. Eaton figures to play alongside Gold Glove center fielder Luis Robert, with slugger Eloy Jiménez... [More]