Baseball

The New York Mets need to adjust their philosophy on how to build a major league bullpen, and that starts with transitioning some of their starting pitching depth into relievers.

The first start of Masahiro Tanaka's career with the New York Yankees is officially in the books at the Rogers Centre. After two rocky innings, Tanaka settled down and dominated a talented Blue Jays lineup over seven innings. 

Aside from the scoreless innings and pitch-by-pitch execution, two things stood out about Tanaka's first performance: poise and command.

The news of the day in Dodgers Land was shaping up to be Matt Kemp's activation from the disabled list for the team's home opener against the division rival San Francisco Giants.

It didn't take long for Yasiel Puig to overshadow that news, though. In fact, he made it completely irrelevant.

Back in late January, in the midst of this most brutal winter, a love affair with baseball came full circle. I walked into the Holiday Inn in Arlington, Va., and attended my first meeting as a member of the Society for American Baseball Research, or SABR, known for its fanatical devotees and pioneering statistical methods.

Los Angeles Dodgers star center fielder Matt Kemp is back in the lineup for Friday's home opener against the San Francisco Giants after recovering from a potentially career-threatening left ankle injury.

St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams, by most accounts, had a solid opening series against the Cincinnati Reds. He produced with the bat, proved that a defensive shift will not always work against him and played adequate defense. Then he tried to catch a foul ball as it flew into the stands down the right field line.

That play seems to be all anyone can talk about now.

Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Brian Wilson was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a nerve irritation in his right (pitching) elbow, the team announced following Tuesday's 3-2 win over the San Diego Padres.

It was recently reported by the Washington Post that Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos is likely headed for surgery on his left hand that could keep him out for four to eight weeks.

Five players capable of handling the middle infield made the Yankees' Opening Day roster. Eduardo Nunez was not one of them.

Yasiel Puig's first home run of the 2014 season may not stop traveling until he hits his second. 

The powerful-yet-sometimes-polarizing right fielder crushed a towering shot off of the San Diego Padres' Ian Kennedy in the first inning on Tuesday afternoon, giving the Los Angeles Dodgers an early 2-0 lead.