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Mets’ Pete Alonso wants ‘Friday Night Blackouts’ at Citi Field
Pete Alonso’s desire to bring back the iconic Mets’ black jerseys goes deeper than just a fashion statement. “I really do hope that we get them, because I think that it’d be exciting not just to have a different jersey, but we gotta make it a thing: Friday Night Blackouts,” Alonso said. “I’m just picturing in my mind everybody in the stadium with a blacked-out jersey. I think it’d be so intimidating, a sea of black shirts out there in the outfield, with music banging out of the speakers, lights going.” If Alonso’s vision for Friday nights in Flushing fails to convince even the strongest black-...
New York Daily News
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Tigers' Miguel Cabrera in spring training: 'I feel like I did back in 2014'
LAKELAND, Fla. — Former two-time American League MVP Miguel Cabrera, the elder statesman of the Detroit Tigers, took batting practice Friday, surrounded by up-and-coming prospects, at Joker Marchant Stadium. And then the soon-to-be 38-year-old explained why his body feels like it did in 2014, just two years after he sat on baseball's throne as the Triple Crown winner. That year, at age 31, he played 159 games — more than in any season since. "Right now, I feel like I did back when I was in 2014," Cabrera said Friday. "I feel more like when I was healthy, with my legs, my hips. I can move my bo...
Detroit Free Press
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Yankees' Gary Sanchez gets early shot to catch ace Gerrit Cole
TAMPA, Fla. — Gary Sanchez and Gerrit Cole are going to get right back at trying to get on the same page this spring. After having to turn to backup catcher Kyle Higashioka to catch the Yankees ace last year, Aaron Boone plans to have Sanchez catch Cole in his first spring outing. Cole is expected to start on Monday when the Yankees host the Tigers. Sanchez is coming off a disaster of a year defensively and offensively. Not only did he lose the job of catching Cole, he was benched in September and had just eight at-bats in seven Yankees playoff games. Sanchez spent the winter working on his de...
New York Daily News
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Braves extend manager Brian Snitker through 2023
ATLANTA — The Braves extended manager Brian Snitker’s contract through the 2023 season with a club option for 2024, the team announced Friday morning. “It feels good,” Snitker said. “I appreciate (general manager) Alex (Anthopoulos) reaching out and getting it done. I’m not one who worries about that, honestly. If this was my last year or whatever, I’m going to give it everything I have always. But it’s nice, obviously, that someone thinks enough of you to extend that kind of a package. It makes you feel good.” Snitker has guided the Braves to three consecutive National League East titles. He ...
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Yankees’ Clint Frazier says he feels like he’s growing up
TAMPA — Clint Frazier has grown up. The cocky kid who made headlines more for his blunders on and off the field is more comfortable in his own skin. He’s accepting mistakes he made in the past and moving on. “So it definitely feels good knowing that whenever I walk into a locker room that I don’t have eyes on me because of something that I possibly did that caused other people that have to answer questions,” Frazier said. “So, I feel like I’m growing up, I feel like I’m a part of this team. Everything that happened in the past obviously happened for a reason. Thrilled to still be with this tea...
New York Daily News
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Luis Robert eager to show what he can do over a full season with White Sox: ‘Those are Mike Trout-type talents’
GLENDALE, ARIZ. — Luis Robert glided in the outfield and made a catch during a drill Wednesday with coach Daryl Boston. Later in the morning, Robert took some cuts against Chicago White Sox teammate Reynaldo Lopez and drove one to the center-field wall. Last spring, all eyes were on Robert as he prepared to make his major league debut. This spring, the center fielder is preparing to show what he can do over 162 games. “I’ve been working hard on my offense, trying to get better there,” Robert said Wednesday via an interpreter. “If last season would have been longer than it was, I would have bee...
Chicago Tribune
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Bryce Harper’s offseason went from worrying to ‘whoa’ when Phillies hired Dave Dombrowski
Bryce Harper was home in Las Vegas this winter but could not stop thinking about what was going on in Philadelphia. Or perhaps it was what wasn’t going on in Philadelphia. The Phillies reassigned their general manager after another playoff-less season, didn’t seem to be in a hurry to hire a new one, and appeared committed to reducing payroll in a slow offseason after playing 30 home games without fans. It had been just 21 months since Harper flew to Clearwater, Fla., hugged the Phillie Phanatic, and said he wanted to ride a “freakin’ boat” down Broad Street. Everything was perfect in the sprin...
The Philadelphia Inquirer
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Marlins’ second base job ‘up in the air.’ Here’s how the contenders are approaching it.
JUPITER, Fla. — It’s the most compelling and pretty much the only battle for a starting job among position players at Marlins camp. And whoever the team picks between rookie Jazz Chisholm and Isan Diaz to be their starting second baseman could be telling about the club’s future at the position. Barring injuries, the Marlins are likely to keep only one on the major-league roster and send the other to Jacksonville to open the season in Triple-A. Veteran Jon Berti also figures into the competition and is virtually guaranteed a roster spot, but he is likely headed for more of a utility role thanks...
Miami Herald
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Padres’ Eric Hosmer looks to make even more of his changes
PEORIA, Ariz. — It was an almost imperceptible delay and only a slightly more evident slowdown. But it made quite a bit of difference for 38 games in a season like no other, one that gave promise to the idea Eric Hosmer can be as significant to the Padres on the field as he is in the clubhouse. “Tempo,” Hosmer said Wednesday, smiling wide, as if the word were magic. It sort of was for him. It helped turn one of the game’s most prolific groundball hitters into a guy who sprayed line drives and fly balls all over the yard. Slowing down allowed him to stay back, see the ball longer and had the si...
The San Diego Union-Tribune
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Cristian Pache’s defense, athletic ability perfectly fit Braves
Cristian Pache likely will make his first opening-day start in center field this April. And the expectation is that it will be the first of many. The Braves’ top prospect was initiated in the National League Championship Series last year, when Adam Duvall’s injury forced Pache into each of the seven games. He impressed, assembling impressive at-bats and showing the defensive prowess that’s made him so highly regarded in the minors. Pache had only four plate appearances before the NLCS. He’d appeared in each of the Braves’ previous five playoff games, though he was a late-game defensive substit...
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
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