The New Orleans Pelicans announced Monday that Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum will not play again this season.

Williamson is dealing with a bone contusion in his lower back he sustained March 19. McCollum has a contusion in his right foot that he suffered March 23. 

The Pelicans cited the injuries as the reason for the shutdowns. Per the Pelicans, each player’s recovery plan will consist of rest and treatment.

The 21-54 Pelicans have the fourth-worst record in the NBA and are in the hunt for the No. 1 pick in a draft that will likely feature generational talent Cooper Flagg. The teams with the three worst records each have an equal chance (14%) in the draft lottery of securing the No. 1 pick. The team with the fourth-worst record has a 12.5% chance of landing the top pick. 

The Utah Jazz, Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards accounted for the three worst records in the league prior to Monday’s games. The Pelicans have seven games remaining in their regular season.

Rough season in New Orleans

The season-ending injuries cap an injury-plagued season in New Orleans in which each of the Pelicans’ top players, including Williamson, McCollum, Dejounte Murray, Trey Murphy III, Brandon Ingram and Herb Jones, missed significant playing time with various ailments. 

Murray (Achilles) and Murphy (labrum) are already out with season-ending injuries. Ingram missed his last 27 games in New Orleans with a sprained ankle before the Pelicans traded him to the Toronto Raptors ahead of the trade deadline. He hasn’t played since. Jones is out for the season after shoulder surgery.

For Williamson, the news concludes another injury-stunted season for the former No. 1 overall pick out of Duke. Williamson finishes his season having played just 30 games. 

In six seasons since being selected in the 2019 draft, Williamson has played in more than 30 games just twice (61 in 2020-21; 70 in 2023-24). He missed the entire 2021-22 season with injury and was limited to 24 (2019-20) and 29 games (2022-23) in his other two seasons.

NEW YORK — Everyone wants to talk about the torpedo bats, but the New York Yankees’ season-opening sweep of the undermanned Milwaukee Brewers was about a lot more than just bulbous lumber.

Here are a few takeaways from the Bombers’ 3-0 start to 2025.

Aaron Judge off to hot start — without a torpedo bat

Judge’s outrageous full-year numbers from 2024 — 58 homers, 1.159 OPS, 10.8 bWAR, arguably the best season ever by a right-handed hitter — make it easy to forget that he underwhelmed for most of March and April last year. Entering play on April 27, 27 games into the season, Judge had a .178 batting average, a .674 OPS and just four home runs in 123 plate appearances. It got so bad that during a four-strikeout game against Tampa Bay on April 20, the Yankees captain earned a shower of boos from the home crowd.

Eventually, of course, Judge caught fire and made history. From April 27 to the end of the year, he slashed a preposterous .354/.488/.777, good for a 1.265 OPS and another MVP award.

This season, Judge isn’t waiting around to get hot. Through three games, he has already belted four home runs, a mark tied for the league lead with Arizona’s Eugenio Suárez.

“I wanted to have a better March and April than I did last season,” Judge told reporters after Sunday’s game. During that 12-3 win, the mammoth outfielder went 1-for-1 with three bases on balls, marking the 33rd time in his accomplished career that he walked thrice.

As Judge goes, so do these Yankees. The entire operation is pointless if he’s not crushing baseballs and instilling fear into opposing pitchers. On that front, so far, so good.

Third-base situation gains clarity

Entering this Yankees season, the hot corner looked at best like an unsettled unknown and at worst like a glaring weakness. Over the winter, GM Brian Cashman did not acquire a big-ticket option for third base, opting to let oft-injured vet DJ LeMahieu, switch-hitting utilityman Oswaldo Cabrera and fallen top prospect Oswald Peraza battle it out. The complexion of that group changed during spring training, with another LeMahieu injury and the strong play of 31-year-old journeyman Pablo Reyes.

Entering Opening Day, it appeared that Cabrera would be the preferred option against righties (his career OPS against RHP is nearly 100 points better than his mark against LHP), while Reyes and Peraza would split time against lefty starters.

Instead, through just three games, a path forward is developing. That’s because Reyes, who started Saturday’s game at the hot corner, had a shocking defensive display that included two ugly errors and another misplay on a screamer ruled a double. He was removed late for Peraza, who went deep late in the blowout. It’s not doomsday for Reyes, who impressed in camp, but his woeful debut showing should provide Peraza a window to secure more playing time in the near future.

Jasson Domínguez’s adventures on defense

Another major question entering the season was whether Domínguez, a highly touted center-field prospect, could adjust to his new home in left. The stocky Dominican was a horror show in left field down the stretch in 2024, but he has the athleticism to make it work out there. Center field, given the additional space that must be covered, is generally considered a more difficult assignment than the corner spots. But the angles left Domínguez perplexed last year, and his comfort at the position was a point of emphasis during spring training.

While it’s far too early to come to any significant conclusions, Domínguez was removed for the defensively superior Trent Grisham late in both Thursday’s and Sunday’s games. Domínguez started at DH on Saturday, also in deference to Grisham, who manned center field, pushing Cody Bellinger to left.

It’s also worth noting that Domínguez was notably tentative toward a hard-hit liner from Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio on Saturday. The play, according to Statcast, had a 95% catch probability.

Carlos Rodón’s new sinker

The Yankees southpaw looked crisp in his first Opening Day start in pinstripes, allowing just one run and tallying seven strikeouts across 5 1/3 innings. Rodón’s 2024 was much better than his disastrous debut year in New York, but it still came in below his standards. Adding a sinker to his arsenal could help Rodón change the tide.

For much of his career, Rodón was effectively a two-pitch pitcher, using a high-carry fastball and a biting slider to create whiffs. Last year, he worked in a changeup, a curveball and the occasional cutter, a pitch that garnered hype in the early going but proved relatively ineffective. Now he and the Yankees are hoping that the sinker, which he threw 12% of the time on Thursday, will be a different story. The new offering generates a ton of drop for a pitch in its velocity range. Keep an eye on it.

What about the leadoff spot?

Lineup construction is much more fun to argue about than it is meaningful. And so because the Yankees lack an obvious leadoff guy, that has been a big topic of conversation so far this year. Skipper Aaron Boone went with left-handed catcher Austin Wells up top on Opening Day against Brewers righty Freddy Peralta. That made Wells the first backstop ever to lead off for the Yanks. He went yard on the third pitch he saw.

Righty bat Paul Goldschmidt hit first on Saturday and Sunday, in part because Boone liked the matchups against southpaw Nestor Cortes and reverse-split righty Aaron Civale. The 37-year-old first baseman went 5-for-8 across the two games. Time will tell if a true leadoff guy emerges or if Boone continues to mix and match.

NEW YORK — Everyone wants to talk about the torpedo bats, but the New York Yankees’ season-opening sweep of the undermanned Milwaukee Brewers was about a lot more than just bulbous lumber.

Here are a few takeaways from the Bombers’ 3-0 start to 2025.

Aaron Judge off to hot start — without a torpedo bat

Judge’s outrageous full-year numbers from 2024 — 58 homers, 1.159 OPS, 10.8 bWAR, arguably the best season ever by a right-handed hitter — make it easy to forget that he underwhelmed for most of March and April last year. Entering play on April 27, 27 games into the season, Judge had a .178 batting average, a .674 OPS and just four home runs in 123 plate appearances. It got so bad that during a four-strikeout game against Tampa Bay on April 20, the Yankees captain earned a shower of boos from the home crowd.

Eventually, of course, Judge caught fire and made history. From April 27 to the end of the year, he slashed a preposterous .354/.488/.777, good for a 1.265 OPS and another MVP award.

This season, Judge isn’t waiting around to get hot. Through three games, he has already belted four home runs, a mark tied for the league lead with Arizona’s Eugenio Suárez.

“I wanted to have a better March and April than I did last season,” Judge told reporters after Sunday’s game. During that 12-3 win, the mammoth outfielder went 1-for-1 with three bases on balls, marking the 33rd time in his accomplished career that he walked thrice.

As Judge goes, so do these Yankees. The entire operation is pointless if he’s not crushing baseballs and instilling fear into opposing pitchers. On that front, so far, so good.

Third-base situation gains clarity

Entering this Yankees season, the hot corner looked at best like an unsettled unknown and at worst like a glaring weakness. Over the winter, GM Brian Cashman did not acquire a big-ticket option for third base, opting to let oft-injured vet DJ LeMahieu, switch-hitting utilityman Oswaldo Cabrera and fallen top prospect Oswald Peraza battle it out. The complexion of that group changed during spring training, with another LeMahieu injury and the strong play of 31-year-old journeyman Pablo Reyes.

Entering Opening Day, it appeared that Cabrera would be the preferred option against righties (his career OPS against RHP is nearly 100 points better than his mark against LHP), while Reyes and Peraza would split time against lefty starters.

Instead, through just three games, a path forward is developing. That’s because Reyes, who started Saturday’s game at the hot corner, had a shocking defensive display that included two ugly errors and another misplay on a screamer ruled a double. He was removed late for Peraza, who went deep late in the blowout. It’s not doomsday for Reyes, who impressed in camp, but his woeful debut showing should provide Peraza a window to secure more playing time in the near future.

Jasson Domínguez’s adventures on defense

Another major question entering the season was whether Domínguez, a highly touted center-field prospect, could adjust to his new home in left. The stocky Dominican was a horror show in left field down the stretch in 2024, but he has the athleticism to make it work out there. Center field, given the additional space that must be covered, is generally considered a more difficult assignment than the corner spots. But the angles left Domínguez perplexed last year, and his comfort at the position was a point of emphasis during spring training.

While it’s far too early to come to any significant conclusions, Domínguez was removed for the defensively superior Trent Grisham late in both Thursday’s and Sunday’s games. Domínguez started at DH on Saturday, also in deference to Grisham, who manned center field, pushing Cody Bellinger to left.

It’s also worth noting that Domínguez was notably tentative toward a hard-hit liner from Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio on Saturday. The play, according to Statcast, had a 95% catch probability.

Carlos Rodón’s new sinker

The Yankees southpaw looked crisp in his first Opening Day start in pinstripes, allowing just one run and tallying seven strikeouts across 5 1/3 innings. Rodón’s 2024 was much better than his disastrous debut year in New York, but it still came in below his standards. Adding a sinker to his arsenal could help Rodón change the tide.

For much of his career, Rodón was effectively a two-pitch pitcher, using a high-carry fastball and a biting slider to create whiffs. Last year, he worked in a changeup, a curveball and the occasional cutter, a pitch that garnered hype in the early going but proved relatively ineffective. Now he and the Yankees are hoping that the sinker, which he threw 12% of the time on Thursday, will be a different story. The new offering generates a ton of drop for a pitch in its velocity range. Keep an eye on it.

What about the leadoff spot?

Lineup construction is much more fun to argue about than it is meaningful. And so because the Yankees lack an obvious leadoff guy, that has been a big topic of conversation so far this year. Skipper Aaron Boone went with left-handed catcher Austin Wells up top on Opening Day against Brewers righty Freddy Peralta. That made Wells the first backstop ever to lead off for the Yanks. He went yard on the third pitch he saw.

Righty bat Paul Goldschmidt hit first on Saturday and Sunday, in part because Boone liked the matchups against southpaw Nestor Cortes and reverse-split righty Aaron Civale. The 37-year-old first baseman went 5-for-8 across the two games. Time will tell if a true leadoff guy emerges or if Boone continues to mix and match.

The Mets are trading outfielder Alexander Canario to the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team announced on Monday.

The outfielder, who was out of options and did not make the Opening Day roster, had been designated for assignment. New York will get cash considerations from Pittsburgh.

Canario, acquired by the Mets in a February trade for cash considerations with the Chicago Cubs, was competing for the final spot on the roster out of spring training. That spot went to Luisangel Acuña, with the Mets needing the depth on the infield.

The Mets had seven days to work out a trade after he was DFA’d, along with outfielder Jose Azocar.

Canario was solid during the spring – 11 hits in 36 at-bats with two doubles, three home runs, eight RBI, and a 1.030 OPS – but keeping him would have meant New York would have only four infielders on the 26-man roster.

The 24-year-old spent most of the 2024 season with the Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in Iowa, slashing .243/.336/.514 with 18 home runs in just 64 games.

In 21 career games at the big league level over the last two seasons, he has 12 hits in 42 at-bats (.286) with two doubles, a triple, and a home run for eight RBI and a .857 OPS.

The Knicks are rewarding veteran P.J. Tucker with a two-year contract, SNY NBA Insider Ian Begley confirms.

The deal will keep Tucker — who completed his second 10-day contract with the club — around for the remainder of the regular season and leaves the organization with enough room under the second apron to add another veteran free agent before the playoffs, if they wait until the last day or two of the regular season to make the transaction, Begley noted.

Of course, if New York wants to add, they would need to waive a player to create room on the roster.

Tucker logged just 107 seconds of game action during his time with the Knicks at the end of a 120-105 loss at Sacramento earlier this month, but he’s been a big help elsewhere.

“Knicks people have appreciated Tucker’s off-court impact, vocal approach during his two-week stint with the club,” Begley said on Monday.

The second year of Tucker’s deal is a team option that will allow New York to include additional salary in any offseason trade.

The 39-year-old last played during the 2023-24 season, splitting time between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Clippers. In 31 games (10 starts), Tucker averaged 1.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in 15.7 minutes per game. He was also a part of Milwaukee’s run to the NBA title in 2020-21, after coming over from Houston.

During his 14 years in the league, Tucker has played for seven different teams, with the Knicks being his eighth.

MLB field coordinators don’t generally draw media scrums.

But when you’re Aaron “Lenny” Leanhardt, innovator of the suddenly famous “torpedo bat,” you’re the exception to the rule.

Leanhardt is the field coordinator for the Miami Marlins. He drew a crowd of reporters and cameras on Monday ahead of Miami’s home game against the New York Mets.

“There’s a lot more cameras here today than I’m used to,” Leanhardt said. “… It’s definitely been surreal for the last couple of days. At the end of the day, it’s about the batter and not the bat. It’s about the hitters and their hitting coaches, not their hitting implement.

“I”m happy to always help those guys get a little bit better. But ultimately, it’s up to them to put good swings on good pitches and grind it out every day. So credit to those guys.”

Why did the ‘torpedo bat’ just now surface?

Per a news release announcing his hiring in January, Leanhardt’s primary responsibility with the Marlins is “to integrate the use of quantitative information with on-field performance and preparation and serve as a conduit between the analytics department and Major League staff.”

But it was his role in developing the “torpedo bat” that generated headlines over the weekend, as New York Yankees players used the bats during a historic home-run barrage against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Leanhardt was asked why it took so long for baseball to come up with the “torpedo bat” concept.

“All I can say is I was one of those smart guys for so long that grew up swinging those old, weird-looking bats as well,” Leanhardt said. “It’s not until now that maybe anyone thought about this, myself included.

“You show up every day. You put on the glove you’re given. You swing the bat that you’re given. You put on the spikes you’re given. And you go about your day as best you can. Every now and then, it takes a little bit of time to question what you’re doing.”

“A couple of years ago, some of the hitters started questioning what they were doing, and I just kind of responded to their questions.”

How did baseball arrive at the ‘torpedo bat’?

Before joining the Marlins, Leanhardt worked as a major-league analyst for the Yankees. Per a profile by The Athletic, Leanhardt began work on the “torpedo bat” in 2022 while a member of the Yankees’ minor-league hitting department. Now the “torpedo bat” is the biggest story in baseball and one of the biggest stories in sports.

Leanhardt spoke about the idea’s journey from his brain in the 2022-23 offseason to the start of New York’s 15-home-run outburst in three games against Milwaukee.

“This has definitely been a project that’s taken over two years to get to this point,” Leanhardt said. “So whether it’s one offseason, a full season, two offseasons — that tends to be just the time scale for guys to, maybe not just buy in but also for us to help make the adjustments to make it playable, actionable on the field for them.

“A lot of guys will test stuff behind the scenes. But they won’t take it to the field necessarily until it’s really dialed in for them.”

In total, five Yankees players are believed to have used Leanhardt’s “torpedo bat” design over the weekend. Those players accounted for nine of New York’s 15 home runs.

Why aren’t Marlins players using these bats?

Since the bat first garnered attention with New York’s nine-home-run outburst against Milwaukee on Saturday, players across MLB have been observed using the same bat design. So far, though, no Marlins are known to be among them. That should be expected to change.

“One of the big goals here is to be as innovative and on the leading edge of things as we possibly can be,” Leanhardt said. “This is certainly something we’re gonna look to be on the leading edge of. It’s just been a quick offseason for everyone. Lot of turnover and everything like that.

“We’re getting ramped up right now with it. You’ll see them on the field here in a couple weeks or a month or so. Definitely something you’ll see here.”

The bats are easy to spot. Instead of the gradually tapered design of traditional bats, in a “torpedo bat,” some wood has been moved from the bottom of the barrel to its heart, where a hitter makes contact.

Here’s how Leanhardt explained it to The Athletic:

“Really,” he said, “it’s just about making the bat as heavy and as fat as possible in the area where you’re trying to do damage on the baseball.”

And if you’re wondering: Yes, the bats are legal. MLB rules stipulate that bats can be no longer than 42 inches and no thicker than 2.61 inches, must be made of solid wood and must not have a cup at the tip deeper than an inch. There’s nothing in the rules that dictates how the mass of a bat is distributed beyond those stipulations.

But do they really work? That’s up for debate. The small sample from three Yankees games is compelling but far from conclusive. 

Still, until and unless these bats prove to provide some sort of detriment, expect more MLB players to give them a try.

MLB field coordinators don’t generally draw media scrums.

But when you’re Aaron “Lenny” Leanhardt, innovator of the suddenly famous “torpedo bat,” you’re the exception to the rule.

Leanhardt is the field coordinator for the Miami Marlins. He drew a crowd of reporters and cameras on Monday ahead of Miami’s home game against the New York Mets.

“There’s a lot more cameras here today than I’m used to,” Leanhardt said. “… It’s definitely been surreal for the last couple of days. At the end of the day, it’s about the batter and not the bat. It’s about the hitters and their hitting coaches, not their hitting implement.

“I”m happy to always help those guys get a little bit better. But ultimately, it’s up to them to put good swings on good pitches and grind it out every day. So credit to those guys.”

Why did the ‘torpedo bat’ just now surface?

Per a news release announcing his hiring in January, Leanhardt’s primary responsibility with the Marlins is “to integrate the use of quantitative information with on-field performance and preparation and serve as a conduit between the analytics department and Major League staff.”

But it was his role in developing the “torpedo bat” that generated countless headlines over the weekend, as New York Yankees players used the bats during a historic home-run barrage against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Leanhardt was asked why it took so long for baseball to come up with the “torpedo bat” concept.

“All I can say is I was one of those smart guys for so long that grew up swinging those old, weird-looking bats as well,” Leanhardt said. “It’s not until now that maybe anyone thought about this, myself included.

“You show up every day. You put on the glove you’re given. You swing the bat that you’re given. You put on the spikes you’re given. And you go about your day as best you can. Every now and then, it takes a little bit of time to question what you’re doing.”

“A couple of years ago, some of the hitters started questioning what they were doing, and I just kind of responded to their questions.”

How did baseball arrive at the ‘torpedo bat’?

Before joining the Marlins, Leanhardt worked as a major-league analyst for the Yankees. Per a profile by The Athletic, Leanhardt began work on the “torpedo bat” in 2022 while a member of the Yankees’ minor-league hitting department. Now the “torpedo bat” is the biggest story in baseball and one of the biggest stories in sports.

Leanhardt spoke about the idea’s journey from his brain in the 2022-23 offseason to the start of New York’s 15-home-run outburst in three games against Milwaukee.

“This has definitely been a project that’s taken over two years to get to this point,” Leanhardt said. “So whether it’s one offseason, a full season, two offseasons — that tends to be just the time scale for guys to, maybe not just buy in but also for us to help make the adjustments to make it playable, actionable on the field for them.

“A lot of guys will test stuff behind the scenes. But they won’t take it to the field necessarily until it’s really dialed in for them.”

In total, five Yankees players are believed to have used Leanhardt’s “torpedo bat” design over the weekend. Those players accounted for nine of New York’s 15 home runs.

Why aren’t Marlins players using these bats?

Since the bat first garnered attention with New York’s nine-home-run outburst against Milwaukee on Saturday, players across MLB have been observed using the same bat design. So far, though, no Marlins are known to be among them. But that should be expected to change.

“One of the big goals here is to be as innovative and on the leading edge of things as we possibly can be,” Leanhardt said. “This is certainly something we’re gonna look to be on the leading edge of. It’s just been a quick offseason for everyone. Lot of turnover and everything like that.

“We’re getting ramped up right now with it. You’ll see them on the field here in a couple weeks or a month or so. Definitely something you’ll see here.”

The bats are easy to spot. Instead of the gradually tapered design of traditional bats, in a “torpedo bat,” some wood has been moved from the bottom of the barrel to its heart, where a hitter makes contact.

Here’s how Leanhardt explained it to The Athletic:

“Really,” he said, “it’s just about making the bat as heavy and as fat as possible in the area where you’re trying to do damage on the baseball.”

And if you’re wondering: Yes, the bats are legal. MLB rules stipulate that bats can be no longer than 42 inches and no thicker than 2.61 inches, must be made of solid wood and must not have a cup at the tip deeper than an inch. There’s nothing in the rules that dictates how the mass of a bat is distributed beyond those stipulations.

But do they really work? That’s up for debate. The small sample from three Yankees games is compelling but far from conclusive. 

Still, until and unless these bats prove to provide some sort of detriment, expect more MLB players to give them a try.