MLB

Beecher, Illinois, police confirmed Tuesday former MLB pitcher Milt Pappas died at the age of 76, per the Chicago Tribune.

The Cubs released an official statement on Pappas' death, via MLB.com:

In an interview published Monday, Rafael Palmeiro—after more than a decade of silence and ambiguity—spoke with FoxSports.com's Flinder Boyd about his career and fall from grace.

Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story smacked yet another home run during Monday's 5-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds, giving him an MLB-record eight homers through the first 13 games of his career, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info). 

Noah Syndergaard can throw really hard. Just ask his catcher.

The New York Mets pitcher dropped the hammer of Thor during the team's 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday, dealing a pitch with enough force to leave a mark on catcher Kevin Plawecki, who had to block it with his chest protector.

It's a really small sample size, so there's no reason to panic.

That's something you hear time and again in the early stages of every MLB season, and more times than not it's correct.

When you're talking about a 162-game season that spans seven months, a few weeks don't add up to much in the grand scheme of things.

However, it's easy to overreact early on now that the games finally matter and fans around the league are hyped for the season.

Though they're rare, trades in the first few weeks of an MLB season do occasionally take place. We need only look back to last season for evidence, as Atlanta traded All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel to San Diego just a few games after Opening Day.

When Chicago Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber tore his ACL and LCL on April 7 after colliding in the outfield with Dexter Fowler, it wouldn’t have been a surprise if a few fans reached for a defibrillator.

Hysteria consumed parts of a tortured Cubdom on social media, with some fans panicked that the promising Cubs’ 2016 season was trashed. But that was just an overly emotional reaction.

It's not a set-in-stone rule or anything, but it sure seems like a Major League Baseball season can't qualify as modern unless at least one top-ranked hitting prospect takes the league by storm. 

In Nomar Mazara, the Texas Rangers may have just the guy for 2016.

Since they've all been heard by now, let's skip the puns and grant that Trevor Story and his many dingers have been one of the best parts of the first couple of weeks of the 2016 season.

But in a related story, things have also gotten to a point where the question needs to be asked: Just how many more dingers can be expected from Story?

Two former St. Louis Cardinals returned to Busch Stadium in Chicago Cubs uniforms Monday. One of them made an indelible impression in the Cubbies' 5-0 win.