Cole Hamels rejoined the Atlanta Braves just in time for their first exhibition game of the year. The injured pitcher is still far off from using the mound at the club's new spring training facility.

It will be champions versus cheaters in a World Series rematch Saturday night when the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros play their exhibition opener.

Professional baseball's pitchers and catchers began reporting last week. The Atlanta Braves' first preseason game is scheduled for Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles. Our own Chattanooga Lookouts are set to open their regular season at AT&T Field on April 9, against Jackson.

Braves manager Brian Snitker and his coaching staff were given one-year contract extensions through the 2021 season on Monday.

These are the new sounds of spring for the Houston Astros: a fan banging on a trash can, another calling José Altuve a cheater.

Max Fried has been working on meditation. He believes in visualization. He incorporates breathing into his movements while working out, also using it as a way to calm down and relax.

The presence of "King Felix" is one of the early subplots for the reigning National League East Division champions.

Alex Bregman spoke for about 30 seconds and said he was sorry, although he did not say why. He said he had learned, but he did not say what.

The Chattanooga Lookouts are eight weeks away from beginning their third decade of Southern League baseball games at AT&T Field.

So it's come to this, has it?

The crack of the bat at spring-training camps replaced the sound of trash-can lids banging in homemade YouTube videos as baseball emerged from its winter of cheating scandals and salary dumps to bask in the Florida and Arizona sun.

The Braves are coming off back-to-back National League East Division titles that were followed by disappointing first-round exits in the playoffs.

Bickering over Major League Baseball's proposal to cut 42 farm teams escalated Wednesday with the exchange of acrimonious letters by the commissioner's office and the governing body of the minor leagues.

Dusty Baker has been hired to replace AJ Hinch as manager of the Houston Astros.

Johan Camargo has a second chance to be the Atlanta Braves' starting third baseman.

The Los Angeles Dodgers would rather earn a World Series trophy on their own than accept any scraps from the Houston Astros or the Boston Red Sox, the teams that beat them in 2017 and 2018.

Oakland Athletics pitcher Mike Fiers didn't have any more to say regarding his role as a whistleblower.

The Boston Red Sox are still hoping to have a manager in place by spring training, but chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said Thursday it's possible they won't hire someone before pitchers and catchers report Feb. 12.

The New York Mets have hired Luis Rojas as their manager to replace Carlos Beltrán.

After signaling an intent to aggressively seek upgrades to a club that won 101 games last season, the Minnesota Twins were passed over in their initial pursuit of top-tier starting pitching.

Derek Jeter and Larry Walker rarely crossed paths during their time in the major leagues.

Marcell Ozuna doesn't have to match his career-best numbers of 2017 or even meet the slugging standards set by third baseman Josh Donaldson last year for the Atlanta Braves to make them feel good about the investment in their new outfielder.

More than two dozen mayors - and counting - have signed on to a task force to save minor league baseball in their communities in the first 24 hours since the group was created, Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said Wednesday.