8:06 PM ET ESPN News Services Freddie Freeman said Wednesday that he doesn’t expect to miss the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ season opener with a hamstring injury that kept him out of Team Canada’s final game of the World Baseball Classic. Freeman was forced to exit Canada’s game against Colombia in the fourth inning Tuesday after

12:15 PM ET Associated Press TOKYO — Cuba earned a 7,500-mile flight to Miami for a trip to the World Baseball Classic semifinals for the first time since 2006. “Cuban baseball fans are so emotional right now. They have been waiting for a long time at the moment,” manager Armando Johnson said after a 4-3

6:15 PM ET The races for the final spots in the 2023 World Baseball Classic quarterfinals are coming down to the last days of pool play and, thanks to the tournament’s unique five-team groups, several WBC tiebreaker scenarios could come into play. So what happens should either Pool C (which the United States currently leads

7:02 PM ET Associated Press NORTH PORT, Fla. — The Atlanta Braves have optioned Ian Anderson to their Triple-A affiliate, the latest setback for a right-hander whose promising start included pitching five hitless innings in Game 3 of the 2021 World Series. The Braves announced Tuesday they had optioned both Anderson and right-hander Bryce Elder

11:53 AM ET Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Catcher Keibert Ruiz gets a $3 million signing bonus as part of his $50 million, eight-year contract with the Washington Nationals, a deal that could be worth $76 million over 10 seasons if the team exercises a pair of options. The 24-year-old gets $1 million

9:51 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” MIAMI — Officially, Puerto Rico’s 10-0 victory over Israel in the World Baseball Classic on Monday night will not enter the record books as a perfect game, even though four pitchers combined

5:39 PM ET MIAMI — Team Nicaragua lost to the Dominican Republic during pool-play at the World Baseball Classic on Monday, but one of its pitchers won in a big way. Editor’s Picks 1 Related Duque Hebbert, a 21-year-old right-hander who’s listed at 5-foot-9, struck out MLB superstars Juan Soto, Julio Rodriguez and Rafael Devers

9:23 AM ET A painful experience at the World Baseball Classic had a sweet ending for William Escala — thanks to an unexpected visit from Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki. Two days after plunking Escala with a 101 mph pitch, Sasaki apologized to the Czech Republic outfielder Monday morning and brought him two bags filled with

8:21 PM ET Associated Press The San Diego Padres are flirting with the idea of beginning the season with a six-man pitching rotation. Settling on an Opening Day starter, though, may not be as easy a decision for manager Bob Melvin. With Joe Musgrove sidelined by a toe injury and Yu Darvish pitching for Japan

5:11 PM ET Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora expects his new third baseman, Justin Turner, back before Opening Day after a frightening scene when the former Dodger was hit in the face by a pitch during a spring training game last week. “Just add a little more [recovery time] and take it day by