Having played a portion of his Hall of Fame career with his brother, Cal Ripken Jr. is looking forward to seeing B.J. Upton and Justin Upton play for the Braves over the course of the next few years.

There’s a very good reason that so many people are so worried about the deluge of injuries that has befallen the Yankees this spring. And it’s not just that it’s the Yankees.

Joe Maddon was coy when asked if he was ready to announce David Price as this year’s Opening Day starter.

Mariano Rivera had “nothing to say” Friday morning about the speculation that the 2013 season will be the last chapter of his storied career. While he kept his words to a minimum, those close to him began the 43-year-old closer’s victory lap by lauding his accomplishments and his attitude, the cutter of the pitcher and the character of the man.

Going into Friday’s action, Matt Kemp was 0-for-8 with three strikeouts, a couple of flyouts to the warning track and the lingering memory of a shoulder that required surgical repair in October.

The Cardinals and first baseman-outfielder Allen Craig reached agreement Friday on a five-year, $31 million contract through the 2017 season with a club option for 2018.

Yankees captain Derek Jeter returned to camp Friday after getting word Thursday that his surgically repaired left ankle was 100 percent healed.

Before the Phillies played their first Grapefruit League game last month, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel stopped short in his assessment of Ben Revere because he had not seen him play very much. Well, Revere has impressed.

Hirokazu Ibata hit a game-tying RBI single in the top of the ninth, Sho Nakata drove in the tiebreaking run with a sacrifice fly in the 10th and Japan rallied defeat Chinese Taipei, 4-3, in the second round of the World Baseball Classic on Friday at Tokyo Dome in a thrilling game that lasted four hours and 37 minutes.

When Nationals manager Davey Johnson is asked about Strasburg, he’ll throw two words into the conversation: “Doc Gooden.” To Johnson that’s the highest compliment anyone could pay a young pitcher. And that young pitcher is now, at last, going to get a full season to show just how good he can be.

On Wednesday, John Franco toured the MLB Fan Cave as part of his pitch to promote the MLB All-Star FanFest and Taco Bell All-Star Sunday.

Freddie Freeman’s ailments were regularly documented as he struggled to gain consistency with his powerful left-handed swing. Often overlooked was Freeman’s constant battle to gain confidence in his ability to see well enough to handle the task of hitting at the big league level.

Italy is surfing a wave of World Baseball Classic momentum. Canada is hoping to surge out of the blocks as its tournament begins.

The United States opens World Baseball Classic play on Friday night against Mexico, which suddenly finds intself in a critical situation after being stunned by Italy.

Chad Billingsley seems to have put that partially torn elbow ligament behind him, as much as a pitcher can with an injury so threatening.

Sergio Romo, the San Francisco Giants closer who was so dominant in his club’s World Series run last year, blew a save while wearing the colors of Team Mexico in the opening game of Pool D in the World Baseball Classic on Thursday, and the result was a 6-5 comeback victory for Italy before 4,479 in Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.

The Cubs aren’t going to be favored to win the National League Central and aren’t really considered to be an NL Wild Card contender, but management does maintain a glimmer of hope.