These Reds are fun

Blanco, making only his eight MLB start at 30 years old, is a former infielder who switched to pitching at 18 years old and visited several academies in the Dominican Republic before the Astros eventually signed him for $5,000.

Blanco threw 36 changeups, 34 sliders, 31 fastballs and four curveballs, but it was the changeup that carried him through the game. He generated 59 swings in the game, including 20 whiffs -- half of which came on his changeup. He hit 95.1 mph with his fastball.

When Charlie Morton took the mound in the Braves’ series opener against the White Sox on Monday afternoon, he became the second-oldest player to throw a pitch this season. At 40 years old, though, Morton continues to show that his age won’t slow him down.

The right-hander tossed 5 2/3 shutout innings to lift Atlanta over the White Sox for a 9-0 victory in eight innings at Guaranteed Rate Field. That performance gave Morton his 42nd career win in a Braves uniform -- the most of any team he has played for in his career.

Sixty-two of Imanaga's 95 pitches thrown were thrown for strikes. He made Cubs and MLB history in the process. Per MLB Network's Sarah Langs, Imanaga's 5 2/3 innings tied for the longest no-hit bid by a Cubs pitcher in his MLB debut since 1920, matching an effort by Amaury Telemaco in 1996.

Toronto reliever Génesis Cabrera was ejected from Saturday’s 5-1 Rays win over the Blue Jays after a sudden, two-handed shove to the face and neck of Tampa Bay's José Caballero that caused both benches to clear.

Oakland will present Athletics owners with an offer to extend the team's lease that includes a five-year contract with an opt-out after three, as well as a requirement the A's pay a $97 million "extension fee," ESPN and KGO in San Francisco have learned.

“I don’t think their predictions included what we were fully aware of,” Boras said of media predictions coming into the winter, “and that is, clubs were going to come to us and say, ‘We’re not going to look at length with premium AAVs (average annual values) because of what preceded their performance prior to 2023.” He used Snell and Bellinger as examples of how clubs could look past the 2023 season and focus on prior seasons.

This year, a total of 264 players -- nearly 28 percent of the league -- representing 19 different countries and territories outside the United States were featured on 2024 Opening Day rosters, injured and inactive lists.