Baseball

The news came from Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. Joey Votto, the Cincinnati Reds star first baseman, stayed in Cincinnati for an MRI and a consultation with team physician Dr.

In the over century-long World Series drought the Cubs are currently experiencing, they've had their fair share of heartbreak. Sometimes they've been downright bad, but sometimes they've actually had reason to get excited. Such is the case for the Cubs right now as they are building up a solid hitting farm system with potential future stars like Javier Baez, Albert Almora, Kris Bryant and Jorge Soler. 

A quarter of the way through the season, the 2014 American League Cy Young race isn't lacking in participants. Masahiro Tanaka is one standout. So is Sonny Gray. And Mark Buehrle. And usual suspects Felix Hernandez and Yu Darvish.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are set to take on the New York Yankees this weekend for the first time since the 2008 regular season.  

Pittsburgh crushed New York by a score of 12-5 in the first game of the two-game series before being shut out 10-0 in the second game six years ago.    

This is an old rivalry that will be renewed when the Pirates play in their first series at the new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.  

Zack Greinke has registered a 3-0 record and 1.72 ERA in five starts against the Arizona Diamondbacks since joining the Los Angeles Dodgers, which is important to consider when making your MLB picks Friday, as the two teams face off at Dodger Stadium.

Updates from Saturday, May 17

ESPN's Jerry Crasnick has an update on Votto's status:

There is perhaps no franchise outside of the Chicago Cubs that is more cursed than the Cleveland Indians. Most would agree that Cleveland as a sports city is the most cursed in the entire country. While the city has had small amounts of time in the spotlight, such as when LeBron James came to town for just under a decade. Before LeBron was even born, something much more important to Cleveland sports was brewing. 

We can either feel sorry for the New York Yankees, or we can look them in the eye and be honest with them.

You should have been able to see this coming, guys.

For what's happening right now in The Bronx is indeed not the least bit surprising. The Yankees entered 2014 with an expensive roster with a lot of starry names on it, yes. But due to a combination of old age and painful track records, said roster also had a relatively high likelihood of being ravaged by injuries.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Miami Marlins have a 20-18 record, good for third place in the National League East. However, they could be losing one of their biggest stars.

A quarter of the season is in the books, and most Dodgers fans would agree that their team has played to about a quarter of its potential. 

One of the most popular picks to represent the National League in the World Series this season, Los Angeles began the week just one game over .500.