{"id":114813,"date":"2021-02-28T21:58:47","date_gmt":"2021-02-28T21:58:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=114813"},"modified":"2021-02-28T21:58:47","modified_gmt":"2021-02-28T21:58:47","slug":"five-things-to-watch-as-mlb-spring-training-games-begin-in-arizona-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/business\/five-things-to-watch-as-mlb-spring-training-games-begin-in-arizona-florida\/","title":{"rendered":"Five things to watch as MLB spring training games begin in Arizona, Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

As always, never believe anything you see on a baseball diamond in February or March. <\/p>\n

So, with that out of the way, a hearty welcome back to Major League Baseball, which will stage a month of exhibitions before starting a hoped-for 162-game season April 1. <\/p>\n

As with all things in the era of the coronavirus, everything is subject to change — starting with regionalized play in the Grapefruit League and game lengths that can vary by the day. Yet teams and players alike have so far reported few COVID-19 cases upon intake — 14 players and six staff members among nearly 21,000 tests conducted. <\/p>\n

While teams will take everything on and off the field deliberately, and there's little of consequence to any single exhibition, there are a few items that will be resolved before crowds of less than 5,000 due to attendance restrictions. Here's what to watch for as games commence Sunday: <\/p>\n

Fallen stars<\/h2>\n

Yep, you can ignore spring results. True, you can minimize regular season stats until about Memorial Day, too. <\/span><\/p>\n

Still, there's a handful of MVP-caliber talents who could stand to figure things out quickly in 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n

"We live in a business where it’s ‘What have you done for me lately?’" says Brewers right fielder Christian Yelich, who went from NL MVP in 2018 to a desultory, .205-hitting<\/span> season in 2020. "What I’ve done lately is play terribly, so I’m looking forward to a fresh start and starting a new year."<\/span><\/p>\n

Yelich has the security of a long-term deal through 2028. Javy Baez does not. The Cubs shortstop, runner-up to Yelich in 2018 MVP voting, was totally unproductive in 2020, posting a .205\/.238\/.360 slash line, his .599 OPS third-worst among qualified major league hitters. Baez and fellow Cubs All-Stars Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo can become free agents after this season.<\/p>\n

"I wasn't mentally ready for last year," Baez said. <\/p>\n

Jose Altuve (.286 OBP), J.D. Martinez (81 adjusted OPS), Kyle Schwarber (.188 batting average) — none can reverse their career-worst 2020s in a few exhibition games. Yet all could use a sturdier leg to stand on before the lights come on for real.<\/p>\n


\nSource: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As always, never believe anything you see<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":114812,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23051],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nFive things to watch as MLB spring training games begin in Arizona, Florida - Pre Coin News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/business\/five-things-to-watch-as-mlb-spring-training-games-begin-in-arizona-florida\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Five things to watch as MLB spring training games begin in Arizona, Florida - Pre Coin News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As always, never believe anything you see\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/business\/five-things-to-watch-as-mlb-spring-training-games-begin-in-arizona-florida\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pre Coin News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-28T21:58:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/cfntalkfoto956b06bb-4c46-4499-900e-6911e3f4805a-USP_MLB__New_York_Yankees-Workouts.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/business\/five-things-to-watch-as-mlb-spring-training-games-begin-in-arizona-florida\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/business\/five-things-to-watch-as-mlb-spring-training-games-begin-in-arizona-florida\/\",\"name\":\"Five things to watch as MLB spring training games begin in Arizona, Florida - 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