9:43 PM ET ESPN News Services The early returns on Major League Baseball’s decision to restrict shifts are promising. Runs and batting average were both up through the first wave of games compared to spring training a year ago. Players were hitting .272 through Feb. 28, with an average of 11.9 runs scored. That’s up

8:21 PM ET Associated Press The Kansas City Royals signed veteran Jackie Bradley Jr. to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training, where he will have an opportunity to earn playing time in a wide-open outfield. The Royals recently traded incumbent center fielder Michael A. Taylor to Minnesota for pitching prospects, and

11:14 AM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Major League Baseball added three executives to its new local media department as it prepares for a possible takeover of local broadcasts for 17 teams amid the financial deterioration of the Bally and AT&T SportsNet regional sports networks. Doug Johnson was hired as senior vice president and

9:12 PM ET ESPN News Services Fernando Tatis Jr. on Tuesday played his first game for the San Diego Padres in nearly 17 months. Tatis went 0-for-2 with a walk and a stolen base and scored a run in a 7-5 win over the San Francisco Giants. He was the designated hitter in his first

5:49 PM ET ESPN News Services BRADENTON, Fla. — There was no umpire behind the plate calling balls and strikes, or even one of those so-called robo umps that could become part of the game in the future, when the Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates kept playing Tuesday. Umpires left the field after Baltimore’s Josh

12:18 PM ET Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Gavin Lux will miss the 2023 season with a torn ACL in his right knee. Manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday that Lux is “obviously crushed” and that the injury is “a huge blow” to the Dodgers, who were anticipating that the former top prospect would be their starting

11:12 PM ET ESPN News Services Chicago Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki, who is dealing with left oblique tightness, withdrew from Japan’s roster for the World Baseball Classic. The Cubs announced Monday night that Suzuki was officially out of the WBC but that additional details about his injury and spring training status would come at

7:12 PM ET ESPN News Services Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Gavin Lux was carted off the field Monday after suffering a right knee injury during Los Angeles’ spring training game against the San Diego Padres at Arizona’s Peoria Stadium. The injury occurred while Lux was running from second to third base in the top of

11:08 AM ET The Toronto Blue Jays have hired James Click as the team’s vice president of baseball strategy, the team announced Monday. Click previously served as general manager of the Houston Astros. His contract expired in October, and he stayed on in the role through the Astros’ World Series victory. In Click’s three years

12:48 PM ET JUPITER, Fla. — Umpire C.B. Bucknor declined to shake St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol’s hand before an exhibition game here Saturday, according to Marmol, and Major League Baseball is looking into that exchange. Marmol was upset by Bucknor’s response. “I don’t think he’s good at his job, and it just shows