We hope you’re ready to hit, too.

Travis Shaw’s determination to earn a starting job paid off when manager John Farrell announced on Thursday that he beat out veteran Pablo Sandoval as the team’s primary third baseman.

With pitchers Jorge Rondon, A.J. Schugel and Jim Fuller among five sent to Minor League camp Thursday, Kyle Lobstein and Cory Luebke have earned spots in the Pirates’ Opening Day bullpen.

Better find out before you miss your start.

John Schuerholz will hold some of the same responsibilities that he’s had while spending the past eight seasons as Braves president, but he will now do so at his own pace as the team’s vice chairman, the club announced on Thursday morning. The club will also provide title changes for two of its executive vice presidents — Mike Plant, who will now be president of development, and Derek Schiller, who will be president of business.

John Schuerholz still possesses a genuine passion to be around baseball, but he now looks forward to the chance to take a half-step back and separate himself from the daily grind while serving as the Braves’ vice chairman — a title that was officially bestowed upon him on Thursday morning.

Miami pitcher Adam Conley, Boston catcher Blake Swihart and Seattle shortstop Ketel Marte are all breakout candidates.

When selecting a fantasy team, your focus should be squarely on getting the most productive player with each pick. Smart owners will ignore their personal preferences and chase value at every point in their draft. Based on ADP (Average Draft Position) data, the following 10 players should offer production that exceeds their acquisition costs.

The prediction business is booming this time of year with Opening Day just around the corner and every baseball expert having something to say about how 2016 is going to turn out. Not all of them go out on the proverbial limb to make their prognostications, but this is as good a time as any to go for the bold.

With the start of the regular season only days away, big league clubs are starting to break camp in Florida and Arizona, and though teams are on the move, the action isn’t slowing down. Today’s Spring Training slate features games in six different states, headlined by a meeting between the Cubs and Mets in Las Vegas.

It’s a deep division, which is precisely what we said a year ago, before the Royals had it seemingly locked by the All-Star break. But because of the strides made by the Twins in 2015, the addition of Justin Upton to an already fierce Tigers lineup, the White Sox’s efforts to improve their offense with Todd Frazier and others and the Indians’ stellar, strikeout-laden starting staff, the Central is no gimme for the defending champs.

The Yankees have been blessed with good health for most of the spring, but those fortunes took a turn on Wednesday afternoon when lefty reliever Andrew Miller was hit on the right wrist by a line drive. X-rays were negative, but the Yanks announced that a CT scan revealed a chip fracture in the wrist. He will visit a hand specialist to determine the next step.

The Doc is in.

Following Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to the Tigers, Joey Rickard was summoned into manager Buck Showalter’s office. As soon as the Rule 5 Draft pick stepped in, the lights came on and the entire coaching staff was in there with a message: Rickard had made the team.

Padres general manager A.J. Preller doesn’t foresee his club making any major trades before Opening Day. But this is A.J. Preller we’re talking about, so don’t rule it out.

Yogi will live in quiz-show history forever.

Clayton Kershaw’s final Cactus League start of 2016 was delayed a few minutes because he was missing the important tool of his trade: the ball. But once the umpire tossed him a ball and a teammate threw him a rosin bag, the three-time National League Cy Young Award winner stepped on the mound and quickly made up for lost time.