MLB

One year ago this spring, Kris Bryant, Addison Russell and Co. had no idea where the keys to the batting cage were.

OK, so that's an old joke. But it's a good one: Veteran tells rookie, "Go get me the keys to the batting cage." So the wide-eyed rookie dutifully bounds off to find them.

There are no keys to the batting cage.

Get it?

Every potential MLB contender has an X-factor as the 2016 season gets underway.

Whether it's a promising young player being counted on to step into a significant role, a team upgrading a specific area that was previously a weakness, an injured player getting and staying healthy or something else altogether, every club has a certain factor that could be the difference in its playoff aspirations.

If you haven’t heard of the Texas Rangers’ Rougned Odor, you will soon.

Consider this your advance notice on baseball’s next great second baseman like someone warning you circa 2004 that Facebook is going to be this really big worldwide phenomenon.

Five years ago, they were the best team ever.

No, the 2011 Boston Red Sox were the "BEST TEAM EVER!" as proclaimed on the front cover of the Boston Herald. How could anyone have known that the Red Sox would actually end up with the worst collapse ever?

Or should that be the "WORST COLLAPSE EVER!"

Get used to the ear-to-ear grin Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Kenta Maeda flashed for almost the entirety of his major league debut against the San Diego Padres on Wednesday.

We saw it before his second at-bat in the fourth inning. A late arrival to the on-deck circle prompted a Little League-like jog to the batter’s box. He grinned as he took his stance.

To say the San Diego Padres started their 2016 in uninspiring fashion would be an understatement. 

According to Elias Sports Bureau (via SportsCenter on Twitter), the Padres became the first team in Major League Baseball history to get shut out over the course of the first three games of the regular season.

The Seattle Mariners will pay Robinson Cano $24 million every year until 2024. That much we know.

The question is, what will Cano give Seattle in return?

The Los Angeles Angels announced Wednesday they placed starting pitcher Andrew Heaney on the 15-day disabled list with a left flexor muscle strain.

Continue for updates.

The Washington Nationals placed outfielder Ben Revere on the 15-day disabled list with a right oblique strain, per Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com.

Continue for updates.

It can't get much better for Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story. On Wednesday afternoon, the Rockies rookie hit a home run in his first at-bat against the Arizona Diamondbacks to give his team a 2-0 lead.