Day: 24 April 2023

ST. PETERSBURG -- Wander Franco didn’t want his glove to drag off one of many early candidates for catch of the 12 months within the Rays' 8-3 win over the Astros at Tropicana Field on Monday night time. Leading off the fifth inning in opposition to Rays rookie starter Taj Bradley, Astros catcher Martín Maldonado lofted a fly ball into foul territory down the left-field line. Franco dashed from his place at shortstop towards the guests’ bullpen, sprinting to cowl 96 ft. With his again to the infield and the ball falling towards the turf, Franco left his ft and stretched each arms towards the foul line. The ball didn’t land in Franco’s glove, however in his naked proper hand. Tampa Bay’s 22-year-old phenom raised the ball within the air as he hit the bottom and spun round, grinning from ear...

Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports Pete Alonso is a specialist. He’s not a kind of boring varieties, although: defensive alternative, pinch-runner, lengthy reliever, LOOGY, the listing goes on and on. He’s the type of specialist that each group would take extra of: a house run specialist. You may not discover it, as a result of each star hitter is seemingly additionally a slugger today, however Alonso isn’t like the remainder of them. He’s on the market for the house runs, and all the pieces else about his recreation merely works in assist of that. That’s a imprecise assertion, however I actually assume it’s true. To me, there’s no participant in baseball in the present day who's a extra pure dwelling run hitter. Given that we play in one of many homer-happiest eras in baseball historica...