March 2026

There were 1,682 posts published in March 2026 (this is page 32 of 169).

Fantasy baseball takeaways from Yankees-Giants (plus some early waiver wire pickups)

And just like that, we have a season. We have results. We have highlights and stats and standings and all that good stuff.

We are so back.

To be fair, Opening Day to me is the first day when multiple teams play. That’s Thursday. I can’t wait to bounce around from Tarik Skubal to Hunter Brown, to watch Paul Skenes deal to Juan Soto, to savor Roman Anthony and Elly De La Cruz on the same diamond. But I enjoyed the standalone opener Wednesday night between the Yankees and Giants, even if the Giants didn’t score while the Yankees knocked around Logan Webb (one of My Guys) for seven runs (six earned).

Webb is going to have some days where he gets BABIP’d to death. He kept the ball in the park. He worked ahead of hitters. He recorded more ground-ball outs than fly-ball outs and he had seven strikeouts against just one walk. If you told me all that stuff ahead of time, I’d be thinking two runs or fewer.

The big New York rally was a five-run second, which featured four singles, one plunked batter and one triple to right. Webb even closed the inning by striking out Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger.

He should be fine. I’m not altering my stance after one night.

And hey, Judge went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts on the other side. It’s a long season. Settle in, settlers.

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On the flip side, Max Fried had an easy time (6.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K) navigating a San Francisco lineup that doesn’t go particularly deep. This is a good spot for fantasy managers to attack — the Giants when they’re home in their roomy park. San Francisco ended the night with three piddly singles, a couple of walks and zero runs.

One other fantasy nugget to consider — Jazz Chisholm Jr. stole a base in the middle of the game, with the Yankees ahead by seven runs. The Giants took the steal in stride — it didn’t set anyone off — and the game meandered along. I’ve never had a problem with professional athletes trying hard for the entirety of their games, no matter the score. My lone concern would be if someone got hurt stealing a meaningless base in a blowout game, but perhaps that risk is low, too.

Anyway, for anyone who has Chisholm shares, it’s probably a good sign that he’s good for another 30-40 bags. Game situations aren’t going to slow him down.

My other assignment for Wednesday night was to process some FAAB offers. Two of my most competitive mixers (one a 12-teamer, the other a 13-teamer) had their first free agent run of the season, after recent drafts. Here are some of the more interesting players who were selected.

— Connelly Early, SP, Red Sox (58% rostered): While the sample sizes aren’t deep yet, Early has been a dominator ever since he put on a Boston uniform. He made four late-season starts last year and was tremendous (2.33 ERA, 1.086 WHIP), with 29 strikeouts against four walks per 19.1 innings. The strikeout rate wasn’t at that level during the spring, but Early still checked in with dominant ratios (1.59/0.941) and whiffed 16 batters against five walks over 17 innings. The Red Sox didn’t just put him in the rotation — he’ll start their third game of the year.

— Paul Sewald, RP, Diamondbacks (30%): His ERA has been in the 4s the last two years and he’s stepping into the age-36 season, but the barrier for relevance is low for any save-potential reliever. Until A.J. Puk is healthy again, Sewald is likely the best option at the end of the Arizona bullpen.

— Jordan Romano, RP, Angels (14%): Here’s another save-speculation play, one I’ve made in a couple of deeper leagues. With Ben Joyce and Robert Stephenson hurt, Romano will likely get the first call when the Angels have an early-season lead to protect. Romano hasn’t been healthy or effective for two years, but he was an All-Star in 2022 and 2023 and looked it in the spring, for whatever you can take from six innings (5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K).

— Luis Rengifo, UT, Brewers (2%): This could be a sneaky little pickup, with Rengifo a possible regular in Milwaukee, and someone who covers three fantasy positions (2B, 3B, OF). He lost his way with the Angels last year, but he’s still just 29, and posted useful fantasy seasons from 2022-2024 (decent average, some category juice).

— Shane Smith, SP, White Sox (31%): This was one of my adds. Smith was surprisingly helpful in 29 starts last year (3.81/1.196), striking out a batter per inning. The White Sox aren’t close to playoff contention, but I expect them to be modestly improved from last year. You don’t have to start Smith against the Brewers on Thursday, but he could be a preferred streamer or spot-starter that we utilize against weaker opponents.

Shohei Ohtani once again tops list of most popular MLB jerseys, which is dominated by the Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers haven’t played their first regular-season game yet, but the team is already winning. Two-way star Shohei Ohtani once again tops the list of most popular MLB jerseys, the league revealed Thursday.

In a release, the league listed the top 20 most popular MLB jerseys since the end of the 2025 World Series. Unsurprisingly, Ohtani sits in the No. 1 spot. And four of his teammates aren’t far behind.

Here’s the top 20 list:

  1. Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers

  2. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers

  3. Aaron Judge, New York Yankees

  4. Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners

  5. Mookie Betts, Dodgers

  6. Nolan Arenado, Arizona Diamondbacks

  7. Freddie Freeman, Dodgers

  8. Pete Alonso, Baltimore Orioles

  9. Roman Anthony, Boston Red Sox

  10. Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs

  11. Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies

  12. Kiké Hernández, Dodgers

  13. Bryce Harper, Phillies

  14. Juan Soto, New York Mets

  15. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays

  16. Francisco Lindor, Mets

  17. Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves

  18. Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates

  19. Josh Naylor, Mariners

  20. Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers

The top of the list shouldn’t come as a surprise. Ohtani is arguably the best player in the game and plays on the best team. Yamamoto in the No. 2 spot also makes sense, as he’s coming off a tremendous performance in the World Series.

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The bigger surprise in the top 10 might be Arenado, who, despite being a future Hall of Famer, is no longer at the height of his powers. Still, he’s clearly popular enough to draw in fans after changing teams in the offseason.

But the biggest surprise in the top 20 has to be Hernández, who is essentially a part-time player with the Dodgers. He’s a fan favorite, though, and delivered one heck of a speech at the team’s World Series celebration in November.

Hernández’s inclusion on the top-20 list gives the Dodgers five players in the top 12, which is a bit of a surprise. Only three other teams are represented more than once — the Mariners, Mets and Phillies — and none of them has more than two players on the list.

The last time MLB released a most popular jersey list in July, Ohtani also occupied the top spot on the list. That should probably be expected by now. Until he either experiences serious decline or stops playing for the Dodgers, he should continue to dominate jersey sales in the sport.

Jaylen Brown, Celtics make statement against Thunder: ‘I guess that was a little payback’

BOSTON — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was in the building, but the MVP chants were not for him.

They rained down from the TD Garden rafters each time Celtics forward Jaylen Brown took the free-throw line in a 119-109 win over Gilgeous-Alexander’s reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder. He took the stripe a lot — a game-high 14 times in total — en route to 31 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists, outperforming the NBA’s returning regular-season and Finals MVP.

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Brown even beat Gilgeous-Alexander at his own game, baiting him into a foul — and the bucket — midway through the fourth quarter. Brown was all smiles; all SGA could do was shake his head. He has, after all, made a nice living out of forcing opponents into compromising positions.

“I guess that was a little payback,” said Brown.

Of course, Brown has a Finals MVP award of his own. He also made an All-NBA Second Team as Jayson Tatum’s co-star in 2023. We knew he was good. Just didn’t know he was this good. In the absence of Tatum, who ruptured his right Achilles last May, Brown kept the Celtics in the hunt, performing at a level that warrants his consideration on ballots for MVP and All-NBA First Team.

“We all knew he could do it,” said Tatum.

Not like this. We figured him for a second option on a title team, because we have seen him do it before in 2024, but after Wednesday’s convincing win over the Thunder we have to ask: Can Jaylen Brown be the best player on a team that wins the championship this season?

Tatum is back in remarkable time from surgery, but he is not in his All-NBA First Team form, and that is OK. It’s actually a good thing, because now the Celtics know a new pecking order. It just looks different from what we’re used to seeing. Brown is their No. 1 option. Tatum is the co-star.

And he looked the part against the Thunder, totaling 19 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals over 35 minutes of this battle between the league’s last two champions. As he has since his return, Tatum looked a lot like himself, only with a little less bounce and a lot more rust.

“I didn’t lose any of my game,” the superstar declared after only his ninth game back. The Celtics are 7-2 with him. ”I’m just kind of rusty right now and finding my wind and my rhythm.”

He is only getting stronger, and there are more than two months before these two teams could meet again in the NBA Finals. The Celtics must be thinking that way, or else they may not have brought Tatum back, as the Eastern Conference is up for grabs. The Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers will not scare Boston, especially not if these Thunder couldn’t.

“That was a great, encouraging game for JT,” Brown said of Wednesday’s effort. “They’re a high-level intensity, physical team, and I felt like it was a step in the right direction. We’re still encouraging him to get back to that level of aggression we know and are used to, but tonight was a great game of him making the right plays, the right reads and being Jayson Tatum.”

That’s right: The Brown-Tatum duo, which has yielded five trips to the Eastern Conference finals and a pair of NBA Finals appearances in eight seasons, is morphing into a new form. It may still be the best tandem in the NBA if Wednesday’s performance against OKC was any indication.

“Obviously, there are still going to be some ups and downs,” Brown said of their partnership. “We’re still working some kinks out, getting our flow. We’ve got 10 games left, and we need each one of those to get ready for the playoffs, but I think today was a very huge step for us.”

How huge?

“We can compete with anybody in the NBA,” said Boston’s Baylor Scheierman.

Scheierman is one of the Celtics who stepped up in Tatum’s absence, along with Hugo Gonzalez and Jordan Walsh, among others. And now those guys are ready to contribute, too. Scheierman scored 11 points off the bench against the Thunder and looked like he belonged.

What was so striking against Oklahoma City: Boston was every bit as deep. The Thunder come at teams in waves, rolling out role player after role player who could start for most other teams. Now, with Tatum making them a complete roster, the Celtics likewise have no end to a rotation.

“This team has just been awesome all year,” said Brown. “It’s been a very fun season. Our guys have really developed from trying to find their footing in this league, trying to find a rhythm, trying to find their confidence, to really competing against some of the best teams in the league.”

More concerning for the Thunder is the health of Jalen Williams, who scored seven points on nine shots and was a nonfactor in the loss to Boston. He recently made his second return from a hamstring strain, and he missed the first 19 games of the season to wrist surgery. He has played only 27 games. That Tatum looks every bit as healthy as Williams at this point is surprising.

All of a sudden, we might have to recalibrate who we consider the NBA’s best pairing heading into the playoffs. The Celtics, for their part, are eager to see how far Tatum can help take Brown.

“It’s super exciting,” said Scheierman. “We’ve just taken it a day at a time, not really knowing what to expect throughout the course of the season, but now that we have him back and integrated into our team, which has been an easy transition for us, it’s super exciting for what’s to come. We’re super excited and super confident in what we can do moving forward.”

This isn’t to say the Celtics are favorites from one win against the Thunder. Nor was the TD Garden crowd saying that Brown is the actual MVP over Gilgeous-Alexander. He can be on a given night, though, and if he can do it four times in seven tries, he might be a champion again.

Timberwolves stun Rockets, become first NBA team on record to erase 13-point deficit in OT

The Minnesota Timberwolves might have just recorded the win of the season.

The Wolves completed an unprecedented comeback on Wednesday, erasing a 13-point deficit in overtime to stun the Houston Rockets while short-handed. The Rockets scored the first 13 points in overtime, then Minnesota scored 15 unanswered points in front of a raucous Target Center crowd.

Per Jace Frederick of the Pioneer Press, they are the first team of the NBA play-by-play era (since 1996-97) to overcome a 13-point overtime deficit.

The Rockets scored on the first six possessions of overtime to take a 108-95 lead with 3:01 remaining, then the Timberwolves scored on the next six possessions. Julius Randle capped things off with a fadeaway jumper.

Minnesota was without star Anthony Edwards and key reserve Ayo Dosunmu to start the game. Then Jaden McDaniels exited with an apparent injury in the fourth quarter, Rudy Gobert fouled out at the end of regulation and Naz Reid got Scott Foster’d a minute into overtime.

The former Sixth Man of the Year was ejected by the notorious official for something he said about a questionable replay decision involving Alperen Şengün.

With Edwards out, McDaniels led the Timberwolves in scoring with 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting, while Randle had 24 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Gobert and Reid combined for 27 rebounds.

“We’re built for the moment. Simple as that,” Randle said after the game.

It’s hard to think of a comeback more shocking than winning after being down 13 in the span of three minutes while missing five rotation players. And it’s hard to think of a loss more disheartening than what the Rockets just did, especially with the team in search of momentum in a month where they are currently 5-6.

Had the Timberwolves lost, the Rockets would have leapfrogged them for fifth place in the Western Conference and won the season series. Instead, they remain in fifth at 45-28 and can take the tiebreaker with a win in Houston on April 10.

Lakers’ Luka Dončić first to average 40 points over 6 road games since Michael Jordan in 1986, as Caitlin Clark snaps photos

Luka Dončić’s MVP march continued in Indianapolis, where he erupted for 21 first-quarter points and a total of 43 in a 137-130 win over the hapless Pacers.

The Los Angeles Lakers superstar became the first player to average 40 points over six road games since Michael Jordan in 1986, according to ESPN.

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Jordan, then 23, actually averaged 41.3 points during a seven-game road trip early in the 1986-87 campaign. He won the first of his 10 league scoring titles that season, although he didn’t win his first MVP until the following season.

Dončić, now 27, is hoping he earns that honor this year. He’s currently leading the league with 33.6 points per game, and he averaged a blistering 40.7 during the six-game swing away from L.A.

The Lakers (47-26) won five of those six games and are 13-2 in their past 15 outings.

Dončić’s latest showcase came against a bottom-dwelling Pacers squad that made the score look closer than it was with a 45-point fourth quarter. 

Still without Tyrese Haliburton, who is sitting out the season while recovering from the torn Achilles he suffered during Game 7 of last year’s NBA Finals, Indiana (16-57) could have used the city’s other star point guard: Caitlin Clark.

She was on the floor, after all — taking photographs. Clark was humorously caught by the broadcast snapping photos as LeBron James argued with officials late in the first half.

James was one of four Lakers starters to score at least 21 points in the win. He finished with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists. 

Jaxson Hayes had 21 points and 10 boards. Austin Reaves chipped in 25 points and eight dimes. Meanwhile, Dončić added seven assists and six rebounds to his stat line.

Dončić has scored 40-plus points 14 times this season, including three times during this recent torrid road stretch, in which he maxed out with 60 versus the Miami Heat.

Joel Embiid, Paul George combine for 63 in first game back as Sixers score most points in 56 years during win over Bulls

Joel Embiid started it, and Paul George finished it: a 157-point inferno, the Philadelphia 76ers’ highest single-game scoring output since they put up 159 against the Phoenix Suns on Feb. 15, 1970.

Embiid and George both returned to the floor Wednesday and combined for 63 points — the most they’ve amassed together in one contest — in a 157-137 victory over the Chicago Bulls. 

Embiid was back after missing the previous 13 games with a right oblique strain. George was in the fold again after serving a 25-game suspension without pay for violating the NBA’s anti-drug program.

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Embiid accounted for 12 of the first 14 points Philadelphia (40-33) tallied and was singlehandedly outscoring the Bulls (29-43) midway through the opening frame. He stacked 23 first-half points and closed with 35. Meanwhile, 13 of George’s 28 points came in the fourth quarter.

It took George a bit to shake off the rust he expected in the wake of a lengthy midseason absence that stemmed from him taking a banned substance to accommodate for what he described Tuesday as a mental health issue related to the pressure of the physical limitations he was facing.

George went a mere 2 of 10 from the field in the first half. He ended his scoring drought by using a jab step to get by Josh Giddey on a baseline drive, which set up a shot at the rim.

He was in search of his jumper most of the opening two quarters.

The nine-time All-Star forward finally hit a 3-pointer before halftime. Rookie guard VJ Edgecombe located George on the right wing, and the 35-year-old knocked down a much-needed triple.

Edgecombe came into the matchup having scored at least 35 points in two of his past three outings. He wound up with 22 against the Bulls. He and Embiid combined for 26 in the first quarter, matching Chicago’s total scoring output in that frame.

The Bulls quietly poured in 53 points in the fourth quarter. They were led by Giddey’s 23 points, 12 assists and 9 rebounds.

Embiid wasn’t just shooting the ball well. He also made an impact on the defensive end, notably rejecting former Sixers teammate Guerschon Yabusele in the second quarter. Plus, the seven-time All-Star center dished out seven assists, one of which arrived in the form of a one-handed, one-timed pass that teed up Edgecombe for one of his four 3-pointers. That highlight-reel play followed another in the third quarter. Moments earlier, George lofted a pass to Embiid in the post, and he turned and threw down a one-handed dunk over 6-foot-8 Bulls forward Matas Buzelis.

Wednesday marked just the 19th game this season in which Edgecombe, George and Embiid have all been on the court at the same time. Philadelphia, of course, is still missing two-time All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey. He’s recovering from a sprained right pinkie finger that he sustained on March 7.

The Sixers are waiting for wing Kelly Oubre Jr. to rejoin the lineup, too. That said, they had an abundance of firepower against a Chicago squad that’s now 6-21 in its past 27 games. 

The Sixers got 13 points from wing Quentin Grimes and nine more from forward Dominick Barlow. That pair teamed up for another head-turning play while the Sixers piled up 51 points in the third quarter, the most they’ve logged in any quarter this season and tied for the most they’ve ever registered in a third quarter. Following a steal, Grimes delivered a no-look dime to Barlow, who cashed in for a two-handed jam.

Later in the frame, George finally found a groove. He drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the arc and then a catch-and-shoot midrange jumper that came with a friendly bounce.

He maintained that momentum in the fourth quarter, and fellow vet Kyle Lowry put an exclamation point on the team’s offensive clinic. 

Lowry celebrated his 40th birthday with a 3-pointer in the game’s waning moments. 

Former AFL player becomes first to come out as gay

Leigh Ryswyk has become the first man in former AFL player to come out as gay [Joy 94.9]

A former Australian Football League (AFL) player has come out as gay, becoming the first man in the competition to do so.

Leigh Ryswyk played one match for the Brisbane Lions in 2005 in the AFL before he was delisted due to injuries. He went on to play more than 220 games for North Adelaide in the South Australian league.

Ryswyk shared the news in a radio interview on Wednesday, saying he had been openly gay among his friends for five years and when he told his parents, they were supportive.

It comes seven months after Mitch Brown – who played for the West Coast Eagles between 2007 and 2016 – came out as bisexual, the first time an AFL player has done so in the sport’s 129-year history.

Prior to Brown’s news, the AFL had been the only major professional men’s sport globally to never have had an openly gay or bisexual player, even after retirement.

Asked how the AFL could support current players who might want to come out, Ryswyk was optimistic.

“I think the AFL, and the community, will wrap their arms around that player,” the 41-year-old said on Melbourne radio station Joy 94.9’s GayFL programme.

“I think the community itself, obviously the queer community, the fan base, I think in the whole they will celebrate that when the time comes.”

Ryswyk said it took him about three years to work up the courage to tell his parents.

“When you come out to your family it’s always a massive experience, there’s a lot of things going on in your head,” he said.

“I had the opportunity to sit down with mum and talk to her about it, and let her know, which was massive. She obviously was crying, I was crying, and she goes ‘I still love you’, so for me, that was a wow moment.”

His dad was also supportive.

“I really didn’t know what to expect, but he was like, ‘I love you, it doesn’t matter, as long as you’re happy I’m happy for you’, that blew me away to be honest.”

He said his close circle of friends know about his sexuality but for many others, it would be the first time they knew.

“I’m a very private person, so it’s not all over my social media, and things like that, and that’s fine.”

Originally from Victoria, Ryswyk moved to Queensland to join the Lions and played a match against Fremantle in Perth. After a successful career with North Adelaide in the state’s league, he was inducted into the AFL Queensland Hall of Fame.

In August last year, Brown came out as bisexual, saying that the weight of hiding his sexuality played a “huge” part in his decision to retire.