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🚨 Headlines

🏀 LeBron is inevitable: LeBron James lifted the Lakers previous the Pacers, 120-119, to snap L.A.’s three-game shedding streak. He additionally saved a streak of his personal, scoring 10 of his 13 factors within the fourth quarter for his 1,283rd consecutive sport with no less than 10 factors.

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🎾 Stunner in Miami: Alexandra Eala, ranked one hundred and fortieth on the planet and simply 19 years outdated, on the Miami Open to turn out to be the primary Filipino participant ever to succeed in a WTA 1000 semifinal.

⚽️ Boston Legacy: Boston’s 2026 NWSL growth workforce, which first introduced its identify final fall because the widely-criticized BOS Nation FC, has .

🏀 From legend to teach: Ali Farokhmanesh, the previous Northern Iowa guard whose late three helped beat top-seeded Kansas within the 2010 NCAA event, at Colorado State.

⛳️ Howdy, pals: Don’t fret, golf followers: Jim Nantz is not going anyplace anytime quickly. The longtime CBS broadcaster , which might be his 51st version and the one centesimal total. Thanks for the heads up, Jim!

⚾️ MLB 2025: Meet the principle characters

(Stefan Milic/Yahoo Sports activities)

It is Opening Day! To get you prepared for the motion, listed below are the , in response to Yahoo Sports activities’ Jake Mintz.

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Prime 10:

Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers DH/SP: There are limitless avenues to clarify the scope and scale of Ohtani’s affect, however let’s maintain it easy. Here’s a human being whose athletic greatness has energized nations, reshaped native economies and rewritten the principles of the game itself.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr, Blue Jays 1B: The have formally reached opening day of Vlad’s stroll 12 months. Even when he reaches free company, he will not get Soto cash ($765M); however $500 million is actually in play.

Juan Soto, Mets RF: The $765 million man is the important thing to Steve Cohen’s dream of biting into the Yankees’ Huge Apple stranglehold. Soto reached the World Sequence after spending only one 12 months within the Bronx; think about what he can accomplish with 15 years in Queens.

Aaron Decide, Yankees RF: For all the house runs and particular person accolades, Decide’s profession will in the end really feel incomplete if he fails to win a championship in pinstripes. He can nonetheless rectify that, however a month shy of his thirty third birthday, he may need much less time than you suppose.

Bryce Harper, Phillies 1B: Like Decide, Harper’s a two-time MVP turning 33 this 12 months whose solely lacking piece is a hoop. It is unimaginable to suppose that by season’s finish he’ll have spent as a lot time in Philly as in Washington, and that he is firmly within the veteran stage of his profession.

Paul Skenes, Pirates SP: The reigning ROY appears loads just like the clear-cut finest pitcher in baseball. That alone will not make the Pirates aggressive; however as final 12 months confirmed us, even when the Buccos stink, each Skenes begin is related.

Spencer Strider, Braves SP: The 2023 strikeout king, who missed practically all of final season after present process elbow surgical procedure, ought to return someday in April to kind among the finest 1-2 punches within the majors alongside reigning Cy Younger Chris Sale.

Ronald Acuña Jr, Braves RF: Like his teammate, the 2023 MVP additionally missed most of final season after tearing his ACL for the second time in 4 years. How he and Strider play upon their returns (he is anticipated again in Might) may have an infinite impression on the Braves.

Rōki Sasaki, Dodgers SP: Few prospects have Sasaki’s expertise, however at this level he is considerably much less polished than teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto was upon becoming a member of L.A. final winter. He’ll be nice finally, however what occurs in 12 months One is a complete thriller.

Bobby Witt Jr, Royals SS: For the reason that starting of the Integration Period, here is the listing of gamers Witt’s age (24) or youthful to publish an greater than the ten.4 he delivered final 12 months: Mickey Mantle. That is it. That is the listing.

11-50:

11-20: Elly de la Cruz (Reds SS), Gunnar Henderson (Orioles SS), Rafael Devers (Purple Sox 3B), Alex Cora (Purple Sox supervisor), Alex Bregman (Purple Sox 3B), Tarik Skubal (Tigers SP), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Dodgers SP), Jacob deGrom (Rangers SP), Jimmy Pitaro (ESPN president), Rob Manfred (MLB commissioner)

21-30: Kyle Tucker (Cubs RF), Jose Altuve (Astros LF), Cam Smith (Astros RF), Freddie Freeman (Dodgers 1B), Mookie Betts (Dodgers SS), Fernando Tatis Jr. (Padres RF), Jackson Merrill (Padres CF), Jackson Chourio (Brewers RF), Jackson Jobe (Tigers SP), Jackson Holliday (Orioles 2B)

31-40: Jasson Domínguez (Yankees LF), Sandy Alcántara (Marlins SP), Luis Robert Jr. (White Sox CF), Nolan Arenado (Cardinals 3B), Jed Hoyer (Cubs president), Pete Alonso (Mets 1B), Francisco Lindor (Mets SS), Mike Trout (Angels RF), Buster Posey (Giants president), Justin Verlander (Giants SP)

41-50: Max Scherzer (Blue Jays SP), Munetaka Murakami (NPB slugger), Stu Sternberg (Rays proprietor), Corbin Burnes (D-Backs SP), Corbin Carroll (D-Backs OF), Lawrence Butler (A’s OF), Clay Holmes (Mets SP), Junior Caminero (Rays IF), James Wooden (Nats OF), Chandler Simpson (Future Rays OF)

Opening Day snapshot:

Roster continuity rankings: For the second 12 months in a row, , returning a whopping 93% of final 12 months’s plate appearances and 80% of innings pitched. The Tigers, Royals, Mariners and Twins spherical out the highest 5.

Rays sport postponed: 28 of 30 groups are taking part in at present, however the Rays and Rockies have to attend till tomorrow to begin their season to provide Tampa Bay an additional day to organize Steinbrenner Discipline — — for main league motion.

Title favorites (through BetMGM): The Dodgers (+240) have by far one of the best odds to win the World Sequence, adopted by the Braves (+900), Yankees (+900), Phillies (+1100), Mets (+1200), Orioles (+1600), Purple Sox (+1800), Astros (+1800) and Rangers (+2200).

Division previews: | | | | |

🏀 The highway to San Antonio

(Bruno Rouby/Yahoo Sports activities)

The boys’s Candy 16 begins at present, and by the tip of the weekend simply 4 groups will likely be heading to San Antonio. However the 256 potential Last 4 combos are usually not all created equal.

Listed here are 10 of our favorites, :

All chalk: Auburn, Florida, Duke, Houston … Solely as soon as has the Last 4 comprised fully No. 1 seeds (2008) for the reason that event expanded in 1985.

All chaos: Ole Miss, Arkansas, BYU, Purdue … Each Last 4 since 2012 has featured no less than one workforce seeded 5 or decrease. In a event outlined by the favorites to this point, how humorous would it not be to see every area’s lowest seed emerge victorious?

New blood: Ole Miss, Texas Tech, BYU, Tennessee … The Rebels have by no means been previous the Candy 16, the Cougars (31) and Vols (26) have essentially the most event appearances with no Last 4 and the Purple Raiders are the one West Area workforce left with no title.

First-year coaches: Michigan, Arkansas, Kentucky, BYU … Dusty Might (Wolverines), John Calipari (Razorbacks), Mark Pope (Wildcats) and Kevin Younger (Cougars) are all of their first 12 months on the helm of their present applications.

All-SEC: Auburn, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee … Simply as soon as have three groups from the identical convention made the Last 4 (Huge East, 1985). The mighty SEC, with seven groups* nonetheless alive, could possibly be the primary to ship 4.

Protection wins championships: Michigan State, Maryland, Duke, Houston … 5 of the nation’s high six defenses are nonetheless alive (these 4 plus Tennessee). Solely St. John’s was eradicated.

NBA prospects abound: Michigan State, Maryland, Duke, Houston … Three of those groups have no less than one potential lottery decide (Michigan State’s Jase Richardson, Maryland’s Derik Queen and the Duke trio of Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach).

The gridiron gang: Michigan, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee … This could make for fairly the CFP semifinals.

The brainiacs: Michigan, Florida, Duke, Purdue … In keeping with , Duke (6), Michigan (21), Florida (30) and Purdue (46) are the highest-rated educational establishments of their areas.

The mascot melee: Auburn, Florida, Alabama, Houston … What if each mascot got here to life and had an epic brawl? Far an excessive amount of time was wasted attempting to determine how an Elephant would fare towards a Blue Satan.

Rating the contenders:

*Different all-SEC permutations: Auburn could possibly be changed by Ole Miss (South), Florida could possibly be changed by Arkansas (West) and Tennessee could possibly be changed by Kentucky (Midwest).

🏀 NBA mock draft 1.0

(Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports activities)

With the Candy 16 tipping off at present, it is an ideal time to interrupt out our , courtesy of Yahoo Sports activities’ Kevin O’Connor.

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Prime 10:

Wizards: Cooper Flagg (F, Duke)

Jazz: Dylan Harper (G, Rutgers)

Hornets: Ace Bailey (F, Rutgers)

Pelicans: VJ Edgecombe (G, Baylor)

76ers: Derik Queen (C, Maryland)

Nets: Kasparas Jakučionis (G, Illinois)

Raptors: Jeremiah Fears (G, Oklahoma)

Warmth: Tre Johnson (G, Texas)

Spurs: Collin Murray-Boyles (F, South Carolina)

Path Blazers: Kon Knueppel (G/F, Duke)

Hold studying: |

📚 Good reads

(Taylor Wilhelm/Yahoo Sports activities)

🏀 Ben Rohrbach:

Some argue that the Thunder celebrity is a “free-throw service provider” — somebody who video games the sport, baiting defenders into contact and, extra importantly, officers into blowing a whistle when the contact was his personal doing. Is there any benefit to that argument?

(Amber Matsumoto/Yahoo Sports activities)

🏈 Charles McDonald:

The time period “generational” will get overused on the subject of draft prospects, but when Travis Hunter would not match the invoice, then nobody does.

(Amy Monks/Yahoo Sports activities)

🏀 Jeff Eisenberg:

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Tales like Lanier’s are a reminder that this 12 months’s heavyweight Candy 16 is not as devoid of charming underdogs as it has been made out to be. The groups nonetheless competing for a title might every hail from energy conferences, however Cinderella tales nonetheless exist, if the place to search for them.

📺 Watchlist: Baseketball

(Giphy)

It is no Sports activities Equinox, however Opening Day and the Candy 16 falling on the identical day is a deal with nonetheless.

⚾️ Opening Day: The consists of two on nationwide tv: Brewers at Yankees (3pm ET, ESPN) and Tigers at Dodgers (7pm, ESPN), which options final 12 months’s AL Cy Younger (Tarik Skubal) squaring off towards a two-time winner (Blake Snell).

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🏀 Candy 16: No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 6 BYU (7:09pm, CBS); No. 1 Florida vs. No. 4 Maryland (7:39pm, TBS); No. 1 Duke vs. No. 4 Arizona (9:39pm, CBS); No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 10 Arkansas (10:09pm, TBS)

Extra to observe:

🏀 NBA: Mavericks at Magic (7pm, NBA)

🏒 NHL: Kings at Avalanche (10pm, ESPN)

🏒 NCAA Males’s Hockey: Regionals (2pm-8:30pm, ESPNU/ESPN2) … The 16-team* NCAA event begins at present with the .

⛳️ LPGA: Ford Championship (7pm, Golf) … 19 of the world’s high 20 golfers tee it up in Arizona, together with No. 1 and defending champion Nelly Korda.

⛳️ PGA: Houston Open (8:15am, ESPN+; 4pm, Golf) … The primary of two straight tournaments in Texas earlier than the Masters tees off on April 10.

⛸️ World Determine Skating Championships: Day 2 (11am, Peacock; 3pm, USA)

⚽️ Girls’s Champions League: Barcelona (4-1) vs. Wolfsburg (1:45pm, YouTube); Chelsea (0-2) vs. Man Metropolis (4pm, YouTube) … Quarterfinals, second leg.

🎾 Tennis: Miami Open (1pm, Tennis) … No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka vs. No. 6 Jasmine Paolini and No. 4 Jessica Pegula vs. Alexandra Eala within the ladies’s semifinals.

*Prime seeds: The 4 seeded groups are No. 1 Boston School, No. 2 Michigan State, No. 3 Maine and No. 4 Western Michigan.

⚾️ MLB trivia

(Dylan Buell/Getty Photographs)

Luis Arráez, who’s gained three straight batting titles, leads all MLB hitters with a .321 batting common within the 2020s (min. 1,500 at-bats).

Query: Who’re the one different two gamers with a .300+ BA this decade?

Trace: They have been teammates for one season.

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Reply on the backside.

⚾️ Want an Opening Day homer? Simply name Tyler

O’Neill takes BP throughout Spring Coaching. (Todd Olszewski/Baltimore Orioles/Getty Photographs)

When Tyler O’Neill takes the sphere for the Orioles this afternoon, it will be his third straight Opening Day with a brand new membership. However regardless of the workforce, you’ll be able to all the time rely on him to go yard when the season begins.

5 in a row: The previous Cardinal and Purple Sox has hit a house run on an MLB document . He’ll go for six in a row at present on the highway towards the Blue Jays.

What are his probabilities? Streak apart, Toronto’s Rogers Centre has been the ninth-most homer-friendly ballpark for righties over the previous three seasons, . And it is not as if O’Neill saves all his energy for the primary day of the 12 months, hitting 31 lengthy balls in simply 113 video games final season.

Trivia reply: Freddie Freeman (.313) and Trea Turner (.300)

We hope you loved this version of , our each day e-newsletter that retains you updated on all issues sports activities. to get it delivered to your inbox each weekday morning.