James Paxton was on turn to start against the Phillies Monday night in his club’s final Summer Camp exhibition. The big left-hander threw a simulated game instead, a decision driven solely by the unique schedule ahead.

If it ends up taking place, there will be nothing normal about the 2020 baseball season. With a 60-game schedule featuring restrictive travel, a plethora of new rules intended to keep everyone safe amid a pandemic and the strong chance that the entire thing will be played without fans in the seats, trying to predict outcomes or award winners may be a fruitless exercise.

Bordered by the Cross Bronx Expressway to the north and East 161st Street to the south, Morrisania is comprised mostly of tenements and housing projects, a brick-laden landscape not exactly teeming with baseball diamonds. Just over a mile away, however, resides one of sports’ most successful franchises and one of the biggest influences in Alex Santos’ life.

Living in times of a pandemic has forced us all to rethink what normal is, making adjustments to our daily lives in an effort to slow down the spread of COVID-19 and to keep ourselves and those around us safe. For athletes who are typically in season this time of year, figuring out what to do next can prove daunting.

As we all come to grips with the new reality that is social distancing, newfound limitations have already bred creative ways to stay connected as a group while also helping to pass the time, the latter which seems like some kind of foreign concept at the moment. By the way, what day is it?

Minor league baseball players have historically had to deal with substandard living conditions, a dilemma often looked upon as a type of initiation rite for those battling to reach the majors. Sleeping in cramped quarters and surviving on cheap, unhealthy food was just considered par for the course.

Former Yankees captain Derek Jeter was elected to the Hall of Fame Tuesday evening, falling one vote short of becoming the second-ever unanimous selection and the second in two years after ex-teammate Mariano Rivera made a clean sweep of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballots in 2019.

Serving your country is one of the most honorable paths a person can take, potentially sacrificing everything to protect others’ freedoms. When that service has reached its endpoint, however, the transition from military to civilian can be quite challenging.

January tends to be baseball’s slowest month. The Winter Meetings are over, the holidays have passed us by, and players and club personnel are quietly gearing up for spring training. Sure, there are still free agents to be signed and potential trades to be made, but for the most part it’s a time where headline stories are few and far between. Not this year, thanks to a series of shocking events that commenced on a Monday so manic it would have rendered Susanna Hoffs speechless.

Phil Hughes is no stranger to performing in front of a captive audience. The right-hander plied his craft before stadium crowds hundreds of times over a 12-year career in the big leagues. A former All-Star and World Series champion, the 33-year-old has transitioned from breaking bats and ripping off fastballs to breaking cases and ripping packs.

NEW YORK (AP) — This is the next stop on Dellin Betances’ subway ride around New York. After spending his first eight seasons in the majors with the crosstown Yankees, the New Yorker joined the club on a one-year contract with a player option for 2021

Many fans were still settling into their seats on a picture-perfect Tuesday afternoon when Jose Altuve crushed Yankees right-hander Luis Severino’s third pitch of the game into the Houston bullpen. It was Altuve’s first home run in the ALCS and fourth this October, adding to an already-impressive playoff ledger and quickly quieting the crowd en route to a 4-1 victory that gave his club a two-games-to-one series lead.

Former Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte threw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to ALCS Game 3 Tuesday, receiving a warm ovation on the same field where he had some special moments a decade ago. A constant force on the October stage over an 18-year career, the crafty southpaw was a tried-and-true stopper that seemed to hurl a gem each time New York desperately needed a playoff victory. With the brim of his cap pulled down low and his glove shielding everything but a steely-eyed stare, Petti

NEW YORK (AP) — Houston Astros right fielder Josh Reddick called out Yankees fans for tossing water bottles, baseballs and other objects on the field during New York’s 4-1 loss in the AL Championship Series on Tuesday night.

With Cy Young Award favorites Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole on deck, getting off to a good start in the ALCS was crucial for the Yankees if they hope to reach their first World Series in a decade. They did just that on Saturday night by taking a pivotal Game 1 on the road behind another masterful performance from Masahiro Tanaka and the bullpen, collectively blanking the Astros 7-0.

The Rays' season ended in disappointment, but they have an admirable foundation on which to build for next season.

While the rest of baseball’s remaining postseason participants have been thrust into the pressure-cooker scenario of playing winner-take-all games, Aaron Boone’s Yankees are making the most of some downtime while waiting to see which club will stand between them and their first World Series appearance in a decade.

In order to reach their first World Series in a decade, the New York Yankees will likely need to rely heavily on their vaunted bullpen. If the first two games of the Division Series are any indicator, manager Aaron Boone plans to be aggressive with his relievers no matter how effective his starters are or how lopsided the score might be.

The Twins were brimming with positivity heading into Saturday evening’s tilt at Yankee Stadium. Sure, they had dropped the ALDS opener less than 24 hours earlier but were a confident group, fresh off 101 wins and their first division title since 2010. Minnesota had won upwards of a hundred games just once before, back in 1965 with a roster that featured Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew and AL batting champion Tony Oliva along with Jim Kaat and Mudcat Grant atop the rotation. Juiced ball or not,