The Tampa Bay Rays improved to 6-0 with their second series sweep of the 2023 season, downing the Washington Nationals 7-2 on Wednesday.

The Rays' exceptional start has included winning all six games by four or more runs, outscoring their opponents by 31 runs (44-13) in the process.

Tampa Bay are the first team win their first six games by at least four runs since the St Louis Maroons in 1884, who managed 13 in a row.

It is Tampa Bay's best start in franchise history and the best start of any franchise in the majors since the Baltimore Orioles opened 7-0 in 2016.

It has been a spread of contributions for Tampa Bay as well, with starting pitcher Shane McClanahan having six strikeouts across six innings, with Wander Franco and Harold Ramirez hitting homers.

Franco's third-inning two-run shot opened up a 3-1 lead, with Ramirez's sixth-inning solo blast over center restoring their two-run lead at 4-2 with two outs.

The Rays added two further runs in the sixth, with Taylor Walls driving home Manuel Margot, before Jose Siri singled to right for Walls to score with Victor Robles losing the fly ball in the sun.

Walls along with Randy Arozarena both had two hits, while the latter took a fine leaping catch on Joey Meneses in the first.

Cole outpitches Nola as Phillies slump

Gerrit Cole piled more misery on the struggling Philadelphia Phillies with eight strikeouts in the New York Yankees' 4-2 win.

The Phillies had claimed their first win of the season against the Yankees on Tuesday but slumped to 1-5 with the defeat, where Jose Trevino's seventh-inning two-run shot opened up a 4-1 lead, with Gleyber Torres having three hits with two RBI singles.

Cole outpitched Phillies right-hander Austin Nola, who had seven Ks across six innings. The Yankees pitcher allowed one run with three hits and three walks across six-and-one-third innings.

The Phillies, who were NL champions last year, were held to two or less runs for the third time in four games with Kyle Schwarber hitting a ninth-inning consolation homer.

More Brewers blasts in walk-off win

Rookie Garrett Mitchell blasted a ninth-inning walk-off home run as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the New York Mets 7-6.

Leading off at the bottom of the ninth, Mitchell fell behind 1-2 in the count before unleashing his game-winning shot into the right-field stands, marking his third blast in his past two games.

The result means Milwaukee have won five games in a row, leading the NL Central division with a 5-1 record. The Brewers, who have homered seven times in two games, have scored 38 runs in their past 36 innings.

For the Mets, Pete Alonso hit a duo of two-run homers, the latter putting his side up 6-4 in the fifth.

The Tampa Bay Rays are the only unbeaten team remaining after improving their record to 5-0 with a come-from-behind 10-6 road victory over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday.

Tampa Bay began their season with a three-game series sweep at home against the Detroit Tigers, and they have now won all five of their games by at least four runs.

But it was far from smooth sailing against the Nationals, despite the Rays jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning.

Alex Call brought home two runners for Washington in the bottom of the first with a single, and after Jose Siri put Tampa ahead 4-2 with his solo home run in the second frame, the Nationals began to take over.

Lane Thomas tied the game up in the second with a two-RBI double, and Thomas then gave the Nats their first lead with his next at-bat in the fourth inning with an RBI single in an impressive three-hit, three-RBI showing from the right-fielder.

The Rays did not score from the third inning through the seventh, but Randy Arozarena injected some life back into the visitors with his second RBI double of the contest to cut the Nationals' lead to 6-5 going into the last.

Tampa Bay first baseman Luke Raley tied the contest with a solo home run from the very first pitch of the ninth inning, and just three pitches later the Rays had the lead after Josh Lowe followed suit with his own solo homer.

A single from Taylor Walls and a double from Siri put two more runners on base, setting up Yandy Diaz for the 414-foot, three-run bomb to seal the comeback win.

Alcantara shuts out the Twins

The Minnesota Twins came into Tuesday's action unbeaten, before running into a spectacular showing from reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara in a 1-0 Miami Marlins triumph.

Alcantara, who had a shaky start in his season opener against the New York Mets, looked right back to his best against the Twins. He pitched the complete nine innings for only three hits and one walk, while striking out five in his 100 pitches.

The only run of the contest came from a solo home run in the second inning from Miami right-fielder Avisail Garcia, snapping a three-game Marlins losing streak.

Another Riley rocket lifts the Braves

Atlanta Braves slugger Austin Riley hit his second home run in as many days to help lift his side to a 4-1 road win against the St Louis Cardinals.

Despite the loss, all 10 Cardinals players to take an at-bat finished with exactly one hit each, but they could not match the power of the Braves.

Following his monstrous 473-foot blast in the opening inning of Monday's game, Riley again went deep in the first inning, this time taking Steven Matz 410 feet over the left-field wall. Orlando Arcia followed Riley's two-run shot with his own solo home run in the second inning.

In his very first start in the majors, 24-year-old Braves rookie Dylan Dodd collected the win as he made it through five innings while giving up six hits and no walks for one run, striking out three in his 73 pitches.

Shohei Ohtani homered for the second straight game with a go-ahead fifth-inning two-run blast in the Los Angeles Angels 7-3 in over the Seattle Mariners on Monday.

The Japanese two-way star creamed George Kirby's 1-1 pitch over right-center field for a 431-foot blast with a runner, Mike Trout, on first base to put the Angels up 4-2.

Kirby only surrendered one long ball during the final three months of last season, making Ohtani's shot more spectacular, having earlier grounded out with his first two at-bats.

Ohtani had hammered a solo shot in the fifth inning of the 6-0 win over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday, with the Angels improving to 3-1 with their third straight triumph.

Taylor Ward's eighth-inning two-run shot all but settled Monday's contest after Eugenio Suarez's RBI single in the fifth cut the margin to one run.

Suarez also managed an RBI double in the first inning to put Seattle 1-0 up. The Mariners managed five hits for the game, with Angels starting pitcher Reid Detmers tossing down seven strikeouts.

Ohtani and Ward got the accolades for their blasts, but Brandon Drury went three-of-five with one RBI, driving in Hunter Renfroe with a ninth-inning double.

Tigers win as Alvarez makes Astros history

Matt Vierling scored a tie-breaking two-run homer in the 11th inning as the Detroit Tigers edged the Houston Astros 7-6 for their first win of the new season.

The Tigers had spurned a 4-0 fifth-inning lead, with the Astros launching a four-run fifth-inning rally which was ended by Vierling's backhand catch, before the late drama as the game went to extras.

Yordan Alvarez had led the world champions' fifth-inning rally with a monster three-run blast, which was his 100th career home run.

Alvarez reached 100 homers in only 372 games which is a franchise record, beating Lance Berkman's 452.

Rays and Twins stay perfect

The Tampa Bay Rays maintained their perfect record with a 6-2 win over the Washington Nationals led by outfielder Luke Raley.

Raley blasted two home runs for the game, with a first-inning two-run shot followed by another blast at the top of the eighth over left field.

Drew Rasmussen was outstanding on the mound, with six scoreless innings with two hits and seven strikeouts as well as a brilliant piece of backhand fielding in the fifth.

The Rays are 4-0, with the Minnesota Twins (4-0) the only other remaining team with an unbeaten record after their 11-1 victory over the Miami Marlins.

The New York Yankees' big bats put on a show Sunday as Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton both blasted home runs in a 6-0 shutout of the San Francisco Giants.

Judge, the reigning AL MVP, gave the Yankees the lead in the third inning when he connected on a 392-foot solo shot, but he would get outdone by his heavy-hitting team-mate later in the same frame.

After Anthony Rizzo reached on an infield single, Stanton stepped up and hit the third-longest homer in Yankee Stadium history, travelling 485 feet to center field. Judge and Stanton now both have two home runs each through their first three games.

Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka got in on the fun with his own solo homer in the fourth inning, but despite all the power on display, the performance of the game came from 25-year-old rookie starting pitcher Jhony Brito.

In his first major league start, Brito pitched five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk to go with six strikeouts in 76 pitches.

The result means the Yankees have taken their opening series 2-1, with the reigning NL Champion Philadelphia Phillies rolling into town next for another three-game set.

Trout and Ohtani hammer A's

Three-time AL MVP Mike Trout got his season up-and-running as he crushed a deep home run as one of his three hits in a 6-0 Los Angeles Angels' win.

On the road against the Oakland Athletics, Trout had gone one-for-seven with two walks in the first two games of the season, but his first four at-bats this time resulted in a double, a single, a home run and a walk.

His 434-foot, two-run homer in the fifth inning would have been the biggest hit in most games, but he was bettered later in the same inning by superstar team-mate Shohei Ohtani.

Ohtani's only hit of the day sailed 443 feet over the wall at right-center, and 23-year-old rookie Logan O'Hoppe made it a game he will never forget with his first career home run.

Springs throws six no-hit innings

Coming off a career-best season, Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Jeffrey Springs made a near faultless start in Sunday's 5-1 home win against the Detroit Tigers.

Springs went six full innings without allowing a hit, giving up just one walk in the second inning while striking out 12 batters in a dominant display. 

The team no-hitter was broken up the very first batter after Springs' exit, but Tampa's five runs – highlighted by Randy Arozarena's 436-foot solo home run – were more than enough.

Adam Duvall starred before blasting a walk-off two-run homer over the Green Monster as the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-8 on Saturday.

Duvall, who joined the Red Sox from the Atlanta Braves in the offseason, had four hits, three runs and five RBIs for the game in a glittering display at Fenway Park.

But his crowning moment came with the Red Sox two out with a runner on first at the bottom of the ninth, hammering a Felix Bautista fastball just above the Green Monster for the walk-off blast.

The Red Sox capitalised on Ryan McKenna's fielding error at deep left field that allowed Masataka Yoshida to get on first base after hitting a routine fly ball.

Duvall's subsequent blast just cleared the Monster, caroming into a tabletop and back on to the field, but the lights flickered, signalling the walk-off homer.

The 34-year-old outfielder homered in the third inning as part of a four-run salvo after the Red Sox trailed 7-1.

Baltimore had raced ahead with Ryan Mountcastle's two-run first-inning homer along with Cedric Mullins three-run blast in the third. The Orioles tagged Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale for seven runs across three innings.

The Red Sox cut it to 8-7 in the seventh after Enrique Hernandez's homer and Duvall's ground rule double for Rafael Devers to score. Austin Hays went five-for-five with two runs for the O's.

Flaherty's mixed day as Cardinals register first win

St Louis Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty threw five no-hit innings along with giving up a career-high seven walks as his side claimed their first win of the season, 4-1 over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Flaherty fanned four, tossing down 49 of 95 pitches for strikes, but only had one clean inning, albeit his final one, on a mixed day on the mound.

The Cardinals opened up a 3-0 lead in the third inning, capitalising on a two-out throwing error by Jays third baseman Matt Chapman, before Nolan Gorman's two-run single.

Angels pile on the runs in Fujinami's A's debut

The Los Angeles Angels scored 11 runs in the third inning as they spoiled Shintaro Fujinami's debut for the Oakland Athletics, winning 13-1.

Fujinami, who joined the A's on a one-year free-agent deal, fell apart in the third after a positive start, with his game ending after 55 pitches with the Angels leading 6-0. The Japanese pitcher allowed eight earned runs with three walks and four Ks.

Taylor Ward blasted a three-run homer off reliever Adam Oller, while Shohei Ohtani had two hits and two RBIs.

Trayce Thompson produced a three-homer, eight-RBI game as the Los Angeles Dodgers won 10-1 over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

All-Star infielder Jake Cronenworth has agreed to a seven-year extension worth $80million with the San Diego Padres, according to multiple reports.

Cronenworth's new contract is scheduled to begin in 2024 and serves as a reward for his impressive consistency for the Padres.

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the deal buys out five free agent seasons and marks the biggest ever for a 29-year-old with under four years of service in the majors.

Cronenworth did not make his MLB debut until 26 but has emerged as a key contributor for San Diego.

Last season, he had a batting average of .239, an on-base percentage of .332 and a slugging percentage of .390, hitting 17 home runs and 88 RBI as he was named to the NL All-Star team for the second successive campaign.

The Padres have made an 0-2 start to the season following successive defeats to the Colorado Rockies.

World Series hero Yordan Alvarez came to the Houston Astros' rescue again on Friday with a bases-clearing double to ignite a 6-3 comeback win against the Chicago White Sox.

Alvarez, who hit the go-ahead home run in the clinching Game 6 of the World Series in November, was 0-2 with a walk when he stepped up to the plate in the seventh inning with two outs and the bases loaded.

He got on a hanging sinker and drove it to deep left-centre, cannoning off the wall for a three-run double to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 lead.

It comes after Alvarez connected on an Opening Day home run in Thursday's loss, as he continues to make his case as arguably the best left-handed hitter in the sport.

While Alvarez got the Astros over the line, it was Kyle Tucker initially sparking the comeback, finally getting Houston on the board with a two-run homer in the sixth inning.

White Sox third-baseman Yoan Moncada was the only player to record three hits in the game – including a ground-rule double to bring in Chicago's third run – but the road team could not get anything going after Astros starter Cristian Javier was taken out of the game.

The Astros bullpen – with an inning each from Phil Maton, Seth Martinez, Bryan Abreu and Rafael Montero – combined for four scoreless frames, with five strikeouts, three hits and no walks.

Soler, Chisholm and Luzardo get the Marlins back on track

After dropping their home opener with reigning Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara on the mound, the Miami Marlins rode a strong start from Jesus Luzardo to a 2-1 triumph against the New York Mets.

Luzardo pitched five-and-two-thirds innings of scoreless action, striking out five while walking four and allowing just two hits. 

He was given an early lead to work with after Jorge Soler's second-inning solo home run, and rising star Jazz Chisholm Jr doubled the advantage with another solo shot in the eighth.

New York's top hitter Pete Alonso made it a contest again with his first home run of the year off Marlins closer A.J. Puk in the ninth, but Puk was able to finish off the save.

Padres fall to surprise 0-2 start

The Colorado Rockies have handed the San Diego Padres a rocky start to their season after sealing at least a road series split with a 4-1 victory.

The Rockies came into San Diego and upset the Padres on Opening Day with a 7-2 result, and despite being one of the World Series favourites, the home side's offense failed to fire yet again in a poor display.

Kim Ha-seong finished with three of the Padres' five total hits, while Yonathan Daza, Elehuris Montero and Charlie Blackmon all collected multiple hits for the Rockies, highlighted by Blackmon's two-run homer in the fifth inning.

The Padres will hope to right the ship in the third of their four-game series on Saturday.

Los Angeles Angels reliever Aaron Loup was embarrassed to inflict an unwanted MLB first on team-mate Shohei Ohtani despite his latest superstar showing.

The Angels lost 2-1 to the Oakland Athletics on Opening Day, but they had led 1-0 through Ohtani's six innings, in which he sent down 10 strikeouts.

Loup then came in for what he described as "probably the most embarrassing outing of my career".

It was the first time since at least 1901 a pitcher's team had lost on Opening Day after he had 10 Ks and no runs allowed. They had previously been 25-0 in such circumstances.

Ohtani's performance was all the more remarkable as he called his own pitches, using the recently approved PitchCom, in response to the introduction of the pitch clock.

An early mix-up required catcher Logan O'Hoppe to ask Ohtani to re-enter the code in the device, which was soon ditched for the remainder of the first inning.

All went smoothly thereafter, though, and O'Hoppe said: "He probably could have been more unhittable if we had PitchCom in the first inning."

So quickly did the two-way sensation master the new process, Ohtani was regularly keying in his pitch before the pitch clock had even begun.

He explained the nature of a visit from home-plate umpire Adrian Johnson at the end of the fifth inning, saying: "He told me I was pitching a little early – before the batter was in the box."

The A's scarcely threatened to disrupt Ohtani's shutout, and he had the answer when they did.

With only one out and runners on second and third in the fourth inning, he struck out Jesus Aguilar and Ramon Laureano in quick succession.

Mike Trout reflected: "That sequence right there... he went from dominant to unhittable."

Ultimately, however, it was not enough, with Ohtani himself restricted to only one hit as a batter, a single in the same fourth inning.

"We got a lot of guys on base, got a few guys in scoring position, but we just lacked that one big hit," Ohtani said. "Obviously we want to score more."

Manager Phil Nevin added: "We're going to score more runs, I'm not worried about that. It's just opening night. Baseball gets weird sometimes."

Aaron Judge hit the first home run of the MLB season from his first at-bat and declared he is "where I wanted to be" – on the New York Yankees.

The reigning AL MVP was straight back at it at Yankee Stadium on Opening Day as New York beat the San Francisco Giants 5-0.

Yet Judge could have been in the visiting team on Thursday.

He was a Giants fan as a child and the subject of interest from San Francisco in free agency this offseason before returning to the Yankees.

The quirk in the schedule was not lost on Judge then as he joked ahead of the game: "I don't know who at MLB did that to me."

But afterwards, the four-time All-Star reiterated his commitment to the Yankees.

"I didn't want to go anywhere," he said. "I was pretty vocal about that from the beginning. This is where I wanted be."

That Judge should have the year's first homer was as fitting as the identity of the Yankees' Opening Day opponents. He had 62 last year, an AL record.

Just three players – Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa – have previously topped that mark in the major leagues. All three were accused of using performance-enhancing drugs during their careers; Bonds was indicted but not convicted for allegedly lying about his alleged use of steroids, McGwire admitted to using PEDs, while Sosa denied he had ever used them.

Only McGwire and Sosa have ever had back-to-back 60-homer seasons, and they are among five players to have had back-to-back 50-homer seasons.

The legendary Babe Ruth is the sole Yankee on that list, and Judge knows the scale of the task before him.

"I know very few followed up with 60. A couple I know hit 50 after that," he said. "But we'll see what happens. Maybe we can make a new list. We'll see."

After his record-breaking 2022 season, there was no one more fitting to hit the first home run of the 2023 campaign than Aaron Judge as the New York Yankees won 5-0 over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday.

Judge, who blasted an American League single-season record 62 home runs last season, lit up Opening Day with the first home-run shot of 2023 in the first inning at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees outfielder needed only two pitches before launching Logan Webb's sinker over the center-field wall. Judge's blast had an exit velocity of 109.3 mph and traveled 422 feet according to Statcast projections.

Gerrit Cole did the rest on the mound, recording an Opening Day franchise record 11 strikeouts across six scoreless innings.

Gleyber Torres creamed a two-run blast in the fourth inning to open up a 3-0 lead, while Torres scored again from a D.J. LeMahieu single in the seventh.

Judge chimed in with a broken-bat RBI single in the same inning, with Jose Trevino scoring, securing a 5-0 win and initiating "M-V-P!" chants from the home crowd.

Top prospect Anthony Volpe also got a rousing reception from the Yankees faithful, finishing 0-2 with a walk in his maiden start at shortstop.

Jays edge Cards in 19-run, 34-hit epic

The Toronto Blue Jays edged the St Louis Cardinals 10-9 in a wild 19-run 34-hit Opening Day classic where Vladimir Guerrero Jr played a key role.

Guerrero brought home the decisive run with a ninth-inning sacrifice fly for new addition Kevin Kiermaier to score the go-ahead run. Guerrero finished with three RBIs from two hits.

Alejandro Kirk had helped the Jays to a 3-0 first-inning lead with a two-run single on a line drive, after Daulton Varsho drove in George Springer on a double.

The chaotic contest saw the Jays become the first MLB team to allow a go-ahead run in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings on the road and still win since the Boston Red Sox in 1938.

Ohtani sends down 10 Ks in Angels defeat

Shohei Ohtani took the unusual step of calling his own pitches, sending down 10 strikeouts, but it was not enough for the Los Angeles Angels in a 2-1 loss to the Oakland Athletics.

Ohtani threw six shutout innings, allowing only two hits, but the A's capitalized after he exited, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory, scoring two at the bottom of the eighth.

Tony Kemp doubled on a fly ball past Mike Trout in center field with Esteury Ruiz scoring, before Aledmys Diaz's line drive drove in Kemp.

Angels outfielder Hunter Renfroe produced a moment of magic in the fifth inning with a no-look catch, leaving Ohtani stunned.

Offseason acquisition Justin Verlander has been placed on the New York Mets injured list with a low grade muscle strain near his pitching shoulder.

The Mets made the announcement on Thursday, the Opening Day of the 2023 MLB season, citing a "low grade teres major strain" with the 40-year-old reigning Cy Young Award winner to be reevaluated next week.

Verlander will be able to continue to throw at "moderate intensity" in the meantime, with the pitcher seeking treatment on the issue after Wednesday's bullpen session where his velocity fell.

"This isn't best-case scenario," Verlander told reporters in Miami where he was scheduled to pitch on Saturday against the Marlins. "But I would think this is probably second-best case. Very minimal."

The 2022 World Series champion, who crossed from the Houston Astros in the offseason, said the issue had been lingering.

"Looking back, it's something that was lingering, but it's spring training and it's very normal to work through stuff, so I didn’t give it much credence," Verlander said. "I just thought it was something I was working through. My last start was able to go out and pitch through that, so I got over that hurdle.

"In my bullpen yesterday, I still felt a tiny bit of something. When I looked back, when I thought I was over it and still felt something, I connected the dots and my velocity was down a bit in my last start.

"That was the main thing where I was like 'well something's going on to cause my velocity to be down one or two miles an hour'.

"I've dealt with a lat [lateral injury] before a couple times in my career. It's not something to mess around with at all. I missed three months one time. In my mind it was to be prudent and smart and get it looked at."

Verlander finished 18-4 in a near career-best 2022 season, posting a 1.75 ERA in 175 innings for the Astros. He joined the Mets after they lost Jacob deGrom in a free agency move to the Texas Rangers.

The right-hander watched on from the dugout as the Mets opened their season on Thursday with a 5-3 win over the Marlins.

Coming off arguably the most entertaining World Baseball Classic ever, the 2023 Major League Baseball season promises to deliver yet again as 30 teams battle it out for two World Series spots.

Reigning champions the Houston Astros wrote themselves into the record books last season by reaching the American League Championship Series for the sixth consecutive year, and while they may have lost their Cy Young Award winner, they have re-tooled and will expect strong development from their cast of young stars.

While they are the deserved favourites, the San Diego Padres and New York Mets have pushed all their chips into the middle and are in World Series-or-bust mode, joining the New York Yankees as the league's three most expensive payrolls.

The World Baseball Classic showed its not only the United States where the talent lies, but Japanese fans in particular will be keeping an extra close eye on proceedings as superstar Shohei Ohtani looks to take home his second AL MVP and Masataka Yoshida and Kodai Senga enter the rookie ranks.

With plenty of interesting storylines to choose from, it only makes sense to start with the kings of the castle.

Astros remain the team to beat

On their way to the 2022 World Series title, the Astros advanced to the final four teams for the sixth consecutive season. 

It is the second-longest streak in MLB history, only bettered by the Atlanta Braves in the 1990s as they did it on eight consecutive tries, although there was a one-year gap in the middle due to the 1994 playoffs being cancelled in the strike season.

This sustained period of excellence has been led by future Hall-of-Famer Jose Altuve and a strong supporting case of Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker, as well as former star Carlos Correa and the future of the franchise Yordan Alvarez, while their starting pitching has been almost unmatched.

In 2022, Houston had two pitchers finish top-five in AL Cy Young Award voting with winner Justin Verlander and fifth-placed Framber Valdez, and while the former has left, they also unearthed high-upside rotation pieces Cristian Javier and Luis Garcia.

Add in their dominant bullpen, led by Ryne Stanek and Ryan Pressly, as well as the best rookie in the last season's playoffs – Jeremy Pena – and the free agent signing of former MVP Jose Abreu, and this Astros team does not figure to be going anywhere.

Will the Padres or Mets be able to spend their way to a title?

The Mets boast the most expensive team in the sport this season, with a combined payroll of $357million – $75m more than their cross-town rivals, the second-placed Yankees ($272m).

They have taken some significant risk by committing a combined $86.6m to their two ageing aces as 38-year-old Max Scherzer and 40-year-old Verlander take home $43.3m each, but with six Cy Young Awards between them, it is likely to be money well-spent.

The Mets will be hurt by losing star closer Edwin Diaz for the season after tearing up his knee celebrating a WBC win with Puerto Rico, but they have 28-year-old slugger Pete Alonso on a bargain deal as he enters his final years of arbitration before an inevitable monstrous extension.

Meanwhile, the Padres come in at the third-most expensive team at $249m, and while they do not have the Hall of Fame-level talent leading their pitching rotation like the Mets, they may have the best batting line-up in the game.

Their four All-Stars leading the way – Xander Bogaerts, Fernando Tatis, Juan Soto and Manny Machado – could all have MVP-calibre seasons, and they give the Padres a real chance at being this season's highest-scoring team.

Can anybody deny Ohtani his second MVP?

If he was not already the biggest star in the sport, Ohtani's brilliant performance in guiding Japan to their third World Baseball Classic cemented his status as the top dog.

An All-Star designated hitter with 80 home runs across the past two seasons – a total that has only been exceeded by Aaron Judge (101) and tied by Vladimir Guerrero Jr (80) – Ohtani also emerged as one of the sport's most dominant pitchers in 2022.

His 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings was just 0.1 behind league-leader Carlos Rodon (12.0), while also posting the sixth-best ERA (2.33) among qualifying starters.

It is the kind of two-way dominance not seen at this level since Babe Ruth, and it took a historic season from Aaron Judge to deny Ohtani his second consecutive MVP.

Judge finished with 16 more home runs than any other player, breaking the American League and New York Yankees single-season record while also posting a gaudy batting average of .311 as he flirted with a Triple Crown.

If he can replicate that kind of season, he will prove he really is one of the greatest hitters of his generation and will likely earn the recognition again, but the overwhelming likelihood is some regression from the Bronx bomber.

Even with Judge's fine campaign, voters still viewed it as a neck-and-neck race with Ohtani as his combined value as essentially two All-Stars in one roster spot makes his argument almost infallible – especially if his Los Angeles Angels finally make the playoffs.

As long as he can remain healthy, expect Ohtani to lift his second AL MVP as he heads into perhaps the most anticipated free agency in American sports since LeBron James' move to Miami.

Will new Red Sox signing and WBC star Yoshida be the top rookie?

A bevy of super-talented American prospects including Baltimore Orioles infielder Gunnar Henderson and Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll are expected to emerge as top talents this season – but no rookie should have higher expectations than Boston Red Sox signing Yoshida.

Yoshida, 29, is a four-time All-Star in Japan's top professional league, and boasts a career batting average of .327 with 133 home runs in his six seasons with the Orix Buffaloes.

The Red Sox ended up the highest bidder for his services, forking out a five-year contract worth $90million, on top of a $15.4m posting fee to the Buffaloes, and they were given a sneak peek at the World Baseball Classic.

En route to Japan's third title – while no other country has more than one – Yoshida earned a spot on the All-Classic team by breaking the RBI record with 13 in seven games, while slashing .409/.531/.727 and hitting a pair of home runs.

He is not the only Japanese veteran trying to make his mark as a rookie this season, as 30-year-old New York Mets starting pitcher Senga will have every opportunity to become a star after signing a five-year, $75m deal with one of the most-watched teams in baseball.

The Los Angeles Angels have announced top prospect Logan O'Hoppe will be their starting catcher for Thursday's Opening Day game against the Oakland Athletics.

O'Hoppe will catch from Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani who has also been confirmed to start Thursday's game at O.co Coliseum.

The 23-year-old will step in with Max Stassi placed on the Angels injured list on Wednesday with hip soreness.

"He worked his tail off all winter to be in this position and he's earned it," Angels manager Pat Nevin said of O'Hoppe.

"A guy like Ohtani is saying this guy can really catch and I don't mind throwing to him."

O'Hoppe debuted for the Angels late last season, batting .286 with two RBIs in five games. He batted .281 with a .799 OPS in 12 games in spring training.

The New York-born catcher was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies, where he was behind J.T. Realmuto, to the Angels in August last year in exchange for Brandon Marsh.

Tiger Woods has teamed up with Mike Trout to build a private golf club in New Jersey.

Trout, a 10-time MLB All-Star, still lives in New Jersey, when not on the west coast for his day job with the Los Angeles Angels.

Woods and his design company – TGR Design – will plan the 18-hole course in Vineland. 

Trout National-The Reserve will also feature a practice range, short-game area, clubhouse, lodging and a wedding chapel, and is scheduled to open in 2025.

"I've always enjoyed watching Mike on the diamond so when the opportunity arose to work with him on Trout National-The Reserve, I couldn't pass it up," Woods said.

"It's a great site for golf and our team's looking forward to creating a special course."

Trout added: "I could put down roots anywhere in the country, but Jessica and I make south Jersey our offseason home and always cherish the time we get to spend there.

"I love south Jersey and I love golf, so creating Trout National-The Reserve is a dream come true. And then to add to that we'll have a golf course designed by Tiger?

"It's just incredible to think that this project has grown to where we're going to be working with someone many consider the greatest and most influential golfer of all time."

The Tampa Bay Rays are "optimistic" emerging shortstop Wander Franco will be available for their Opening Day game with the Detroit Tigers on Thursday despite a quad injury concern.

Franco, 22, underwent an MRI on Sunday which Rays manager Kevin Cash said returned "favourable" results.

Despite the good results, Cash said Franco would not play in Tampa Bay's spring training game against the New York Yankees on Monday but was hopeful of their season opener against the Tigers.

"We've got three days to treat him," Cash told the Tampa Bay Times. "I don't think anything's been decided.

"We're optimistic that if we can get this thing treated the right way, we should be in a spot where he's good to go.

"Three days off in a row for him. Maybe get him out there that last day and take [batting practice] and see how he feels, but I'm pretty optimistic."

Franco had been scratched from the lineup for Saturday's spring training game against the Boston Red Sox due to right quadriceps soreness, although the Rays called that precautionary.

The 22-year-old has been a revelation for the Rays since debuting in 2021, including tying Frank Robinson (1956) for the longest on-base streak (43 games) in AL/NL history by a player 20 years old or younger.

Franco finished third in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2021, before hitting .277 with six home runs and 33 RBIs in 2022.