Walker Buehler will have a new look when he takes the mound for the first time in 2025. After spending the first eight seasons of his Major League Baseball career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Buehler will be donning a Red Sox uniform next season.
His uniform won't be the only change for Buehler's look next season—he is also changing his number from No. 21 to No. 0.
For the first time in his career, Buehler will play for a team other than the Dodgers and wear a number other than No. 21. Buehler explained his decision to take the No. 0, making him one of just three players in Red Sox history to sport the number.
"No. 21 was taken, or somewhat taken, or however you guys classify it," Buehler said, via Chris Cotillo. of MassLive. "But no, I had few options there at the end. And I don't know, it felt fitting. We battled a lot on double zero or single zero, but I think the smaller number makes me look a little skinnier out there. So I went with a single zero."
Buehler signed a one-year, $21.05 million deal in December coming off of his World Series-winning performance in October. After missing nearly two seasons because of Tommy John surgery, Buehler returned in 2024. He struggled early in the year, posting a 1-6 record and 5.38 ERA over 16 regular season starts, but stepped up in the postseason amid injuries to the Dodgers' rotation. He pitched six scoreless innings in the World Series, and clinched the victory by closing out the final inning of Game 5.
After missing the playoffs in three consecutive seasons, the Red Sox are hopeful Buehler's postseason heroics will come in handy in 2025.
The San Francisco Giants have found their long-term answer at shortstop.
ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Saturday, citing sources, that the Giants agreed to sign shortstop Willy Adames to a seven-year contract worth $182 million, pending a physical.
It is the largest contract handed out in franchise history, marking Buster Posey's first big move since taking the president of baseball operations role in October. Adames's deal, which includes a $22 million signing bonus, tops Posey's nine-year contract extension worth $167 million that he signed as a 26-year-old catcher back in 2013.
Adames, 29, hit the open market after spending four years apiece with the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays. He was traded to the Brewers in May 2021 and developed into one of the game's best sluggers at the position, mashing at least 25 homers in each of the last four years.
In 161 games with Milwaukee last season, Adames batted .251/.331/.462 while setting career bests in just about every offensive category, including homers (32), doubles (33), RBIs (112) and stolen bases (21).
Adames now holds the keys to shortstop at Oracle Park, a position San Francisco thought it filled in free agency two years ago. In December 2022, the Giants agreed to sign shortstop Carlos Correa to a 13-year contract worth $350 million, only to back out of the deal on the day of his scheduled introductory press conference due to concerns that arose over his physical.
Adames's deal is currently pending a physical, too, of course.
While Correa enters the 2025 campaign on the third season of his six-year contract he signed with the Minnesota Twins, it appears the Giants have finally found their cornerstone shortstop. And Posey has proved he can do what former executive Farhan Zaidi struggled to accomplish—bringing a star to the Bay Area on a long-term deal.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. was ejected during the top of the seventh inning during the New York Yankees 6-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night. Chisholm struck out looking on a full count and vehemently disagreed with the call.
As the announcers quickly noted, the pitch was not in the strike zone and seemed like a make-up call. Indeed, Chisholm did appear to be avoid what looked like strike three on the 2-2 pitch when Mason Montgomery painted the outside corner and home plate umpire John Bacon called it a ball. Not that it mattered to the Yankees infielder who was only focused on the call that went against him.
The at-bat that got Jazz Chisholm ejected. / MLB.com
Aaron Boone tried to intervene, but there was nothing that he could do to cool his player off in the moment. When Chisholm got back to the locker room he jumped on X and tweeted, "Not even f—— close!!!!" The post wasn't up long before it was deleted, but plenty of his 75,000 followers saw it.
Chisholm left the game after going 0-for-3. If there's a silver lining here it's that when he doesn't hit, he doesn't bite anyone. Maybe he was just hangry?
The last time Baylor reached a men's Final Four in 1950, the tournament included just eight teams and was won by the City College of New York Beavers.
For Houston, it has been a mere 37 years since the Cougars last were on college basketball’s biggest stage. Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon were Houston stars the last time UH basketball was this big. It has been so long since that was the case that Drexler tried, and failed, to bring Houston back to prominence as its head coach … more than 20 years ago!
While there are still two more tickets to punch to this year’s Final Four, it’s obvious that this year’s last teams standing will have a unique flavor compared to past tournaments. Perhaps that’s not shocking in a year that saw Kentucky, Duke and Louisville miss the men's NCAA tournament altogether and Michigan State and UNC spend much of the season on the bubble. Simply based on 2020–21, there’s nothing surprising about Baylor and Houston dancing into the tournament’s third weekend. But based on each program’s past, it’s quite the story.
That trend will continue Tuesday no matter who wins the Gonzaga-USC and Michigan-UCLA matchups. While the Bruins and Wolverines are historically excellent programs with great tradition, neither has won it all in the last 25 years. Each has a second-year coach that many bet against: Mick Cronin for not winning enough in March at Cincinnati and Juwan Howard for not coaching at all in college before arriving in Ann Arbor. USC, a football school through and through, hasn’t been to a Final Four since 1954. And then there’s Gonzaga, once a plucky Cinderella that now looks an awful lot like a blueblood, just three wins away from the first undefeated men's national championship since Bob Knight’s 1975–76 Indiana Hoosiers—and what would be the program's first national title, period.
So while it’s still possible (perhaps even likely) that the Final Four will feature three No. 1 seeds and a No. 2, there’s nothing chalky about the teams still competing for the national title. In a tournament with as many NCAA-defined upsets (five or more seed lines apart) as the event has ever seen, there’s another underdog story to tell through the lens of these new-school favorites.
Just take the two teams that have already locked in their seats at the table. The Baylor program, one with no history of success, rose from the ashes of a national scandal and NCAA punishments to become respectable and now elite under Scott Drew. Houston gave Kelvin Sampson another shot at college coaching after he was run out of Bloomington due to NCAA violations. Sampson, in his seventh year, has brought UH to the Final Four after inheriting a program that had not won an NCAA tournament game since Phi Slama Jama.
These may not be underdogs by seed. But these programs certainly are. And in a sport that hadn’t seen three straight men's Final Fours without one of Duke, Kentucky or North Carolina since 1962, that’s a sign of progress in and of itself.
Either Florida Atlantic or San Diego State is going to play for the national championship Monday night. In men’s basketball. Not beach volleyball nor water polo. March has indeed been Madness.
They’re going crazy in La Jolla and Boca Raton, presumably. If the folks there can tear themselves away from the beach.
Neither school has been to a Final Four until now. Neither school’s conference—Conference USA for the Owls, the Mountain West from the Aztecs—has put a team in the title game. But here we are, preparing for a barrier-breaking Final Four semifinal.
While this is, indeed, an improbable development, let’s not consider either team a fluke. Both won their league’s regular-season and tournament titles. FAU has 35 victories in 38 games; SDSU has 31 wins in 37 games. They’ve been consistently excellent all season, and this should be a very good game.
How they got here
Florida Atlantic was given a disrespectful No. 9 seed by the selection committee, despite being the No. 13 team in the NCAA’s own NET rankings, No. 23 in the Pomeroy ratings and No. 25 in the AP poll. But that seed turned out to be more of a problem for the teams in the Owls’ path than the Owls themselves.
Given a tough opening matchup with Memphis (which also deserved better than its No. 8 seed), FAU pulled out a one-point win that went down to the wire and was not without late controversy over a timeout that was granted instead of a jump ball. From there, the Owls were blessed with a second-round game against No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson, which had slayed No. 1 Purdue—that game was in doubt as well until a late 12–2 FAU run.
It wasn’t until the Owls got to Madison Square Garden that they began playing their best basketball of the tournament. They exerted their will on Tennessee in the late stages of a grinding, seven-point victory, before outlasting Kansas State in a 79–76 thriller to reach the Final Four.
Fifth-seeded San Diego State also had to win a tight first-round game against dangerous College of Charleston, leading most of the way but then winding up in a tie game with less than three minutes to play. The Aztecs held Charleston without a field goal from 3:27 until 19 seconds remained to pull that out, then got their own upset break when second-round opponent Furman took down No. 4 Virginia. SDSU rolled over the Paladins and into the Sweet 16 in Louisville.
That’s when San Diego State sent the tournament into a tizzy by knocking off the overall No. 1 seed, Alabama. Down nine in the second half, the Aztecs mounted a gritty rally that shocked the Crimson Tide. In an inartistic but tense regional final against Creighton, the Aztecs overcame a seven-point second-half deficit, winning on a controversial foul call and free throw with 1.2 seconds left.
Best individual matchup
Both these teams win by committee, going nine-deep and substituting players in bunches, so there aren’t any superstars on either side. SDSU’s leading scorer, Matt Bradley, averages just 12.5 points per game. FAU’s top guy, Johnell Davis, averages 13.9.
Bradley has played a total of 971 minutes for the Aztecs so far this season. :: Jordan Prather/USA TODAY Sports
The 6'4" Davis is the guy who can make the toughest baskets for FAU, able to finish off the dribble with either hand or post up. He shot poorly from the perimeter in Madison Square Garden, going 0–7 from three-point range, but he also draws a lot of fouls (37 of 41 at the free throw line in the C-USA and NCAA tourneys so far). San Diego State could counter with length (6'6" Micah Parrish and 6'7" Keshad Johnson) or strength (6'4", 220-pound Bradley). Bradley really struggled offensively in Louisville, scoring eight points in two games, and he hasn’t made a three since the Charleston game. He could be due to break out—but if he doesn’t, SDSU still has other options.
Coaching strategy
It will be an interesting matchup of teams that count on their depth to wear down opponents as games progress; that advantage should be nullified both ways.
San Diego State hangs its hard hat on stopping offenses. The Aztecs are fourth nationally in defensive efficiency per Ken Pomeroy, locking up opponents on the perimeter. They allow just 27.8% accuracy from three, the second-lowest percentage in the nation. Their last eight opponents have failed to score 65 points. As the message read on the whiteboard in the team’s locker room in Louisville, .
Offense is a chore, with points often generated via offensive rebounds and defensive turnovers. Brian Dutcher’s team is perfectly happy to grind away in a methodical half-court game, one physical possession at a time.
Florida Atlantic would prefer to go a little faster offensively, aggressively pushing the ball upcourt and hunting early shots. Forty-four percent of their shots are from three (one of the higher percentages in the nation), which will be in conflict with SDSU’s strong perimeter defense. The Owls’ 22-turnover game against Kansas State was an outlier for a team that is usually better than that protecting the ball.
Defensively, Dusty May’s team has improved as the season has progressed. Opponents are making just 44.8% of their two-point field goals and not getting many second-chance opportunities despite FAU’s lack of size. Center Vladislav Goldin, the 7'1" exception to the Owls’ short rule, was a huge presence inside against K-State and will be needed for 25-plus minutes against San Diego State.
The New York Yankees will be without closing pitcher Luke Weaver for at least four to six weeks after he suffered a hamstring injury on Sunday while he was warming up for the game vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported.
Weaver underwent an MRI on Monday, which determined that he would need to be placed on the injured list. A return timeline for Weaver will be figured out on Tuesday.
The closer was supposed to enter Sunday's game in the ninth inning vs. the Dodgers, but he "felt something" in his hamstring, so the Yankees brought in Tim Hill instead.
In 24 game appearances this season so far, Weaver has produced a 1.05 ERA through 25.2 innings pitched. He's thrown 24 strikeouts and walked seven batters, while he's had 11 hits and three runs scored on him.
Weaver isn't the only player the Yankees who ended up injured on Sunday. Left fielder Jasson Dominguez exited the game with a left thumb contusion after attempting to steal second base. His status is questionable at this time.
Jen Pawol is set to make Major League Baseball history this weekend.
The 48-year-old will become the first woman to work as an umpire during a regular-season MLB game. She will umpire three games during the series between the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves. That will include both games of a doubleheader on Saturday and the series finale on Sunday. She will be behind the plate calling balls and strikes on Sunday.
Due to the doubleheader, the umpiring crew needed to add a fifth umpire, which led to Pawol getting the assignment.
Pawol began umpiring professionally in 2016 at rookie ball, then steadily began climbing up the ranks. In '23, she became the first woman to umpire at the Triple A level in 34 years. She was behind the plate during the Triple A championship that fall.
In 2024, Pawol was the first woman to umpire a spring training game since '07, and she was a Triple A crew chief that season. She has a long track record during a steady climb to the big leagues.
Pawol played softball at Hofstra and was a member of the U.S. women's national baseball team that won the inaugural Baseball Women's World Series in 2001.
She has already broken barriers in her career as an umpire. She's set to make more history this weekend.
Aaron Judge made history on Saturday by becoming the fastest player in MLB history to reach 350 career home runs, but he wasn't much in the mood to celebrate after his New York Yankees fell to the Chicago Cubs 5-2.
On a day in which the Yankees couldn't get much of anything going until the end of the game, Judge was the bright spot, recording three hits, one run, two RBIs and the 350th home run of career, but it didn't matter much to the star Yankees outfielder as they endured the loss.
"I got nothing, to be honest," Judge told reporters after the game. "It would've been great if we had gotten a win today, you do something like that. I've been surrounded by a lot of great teammates, been on some good teams, they've really put me in the best position to go out there and perform at my best. So it's really just a shoutout to all the teammates I've had over the years."
Outside of wishing the Yankees won, Judge's primary comments on the monumental feat were simply to give credits to the teammates that have helped him along the way. Though Judge reached 350 home runs in nearly 200 fewer games than any other player, he appeared less than impressed without a win also in hand.
Judge now has 35 home runs on the season, only behind Seattle Mariners' catcher Cal Raleigh's 38. The Yankees fell to 53-42 on the year, and trail the Blue Jays by 2.5 games in the AL East.
Alex Rodriguez wasn't playing in Bucknell's basketball game against Army on Sunday, but he still provided the biggest assist of the contest.
During halftime of the Bison's game against Army, Rodriguez was invited onto the court where he took a promotional half-court shot in hopes of winning one lucky student $10,000. A-Rod stepped to the line confidently and unloaded the ball from the half-court line and proceeded to bank the ball in off the backboard.
Pandemonium ensued, as Rodriguez and the student began excitedly celebrating. A-Rod was then mobbed by a group of students from the student section of Sojka Pavillion, who huddled around him while jumping around in celebration of his half-court shot.
Rodriguez was in attendance for Bucknell's game on Sunday after he, entrepreneur Marc Lore and Bucknell Trustee Jordy Leiser spoke on campus at a Bucknell Forum special event earlier in the day. Lore and Rodriguez have long been in the process of purchasing the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx from Glen Taylor.
The bank was certainly open for A-Rod, who helped win the student $10,000 with his half-court shot off the backboard.
The Los Angeles Dodgers enjoyed a comfortable 15–2 lead entering the ninth inning against the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night so Dave Roberts gave the people what they wanted and sent utility man Kikè Hernandez out to the mound to get the final three outs. There is no joy like seeing a position player trot out to the mound to do something goofy or, as happens somewhat frequently, effectively shut down an offense with stuff that probably wouldn't play in a local rec league.
Hernandez was able to work around two hits to emerge with a scoreless frame. And he also took the opportunity to entertain the Dodger Stadium crowd with some quirky antics. Like wearing a pitcher's protective helmet and bonking himself in the head.
Tremendous stuff. If you're going to have some fun, really have some fun.
The John Olerud-inspired look is not something baseball fans see every day but even the briefest of considerations leads to the conclusion that all pitchers should probably be wearing some brain protection considering that balls are coming back their way pushing 115 MPH before they can even ready themselves to mount any defense.
Perhaps Hernandez looking pretty cool while staying safe will help the look catch on. Or we'll see it again in a few years.