MLB: Spring Training Guide 2025:
By: Will Aimette
(Photo Credit: San Fransisco Chronicle)
Baseball is back! And what’s the best part about Spring Training? The player interactions, of course. Fans get to meet and get autographs from some of their heroes, including Brandon Crawford, who is signing baseball’s for the future generation.
New Rule - Strike Zone Challenges:
Finally, after years of complaining about faulty umpires, teams can argue balls and strikes. At least, in Spring Training. Each team gets two challenges per game, and if they overturn the call they get their challenge back. This raises an interesting question. Will this well-thought out idea make its way to the regular season and playoffs? Well, it all depends on how it goes during Spring Training. The players, including both pitchers and hitters, clearly enjoy it. However, to challenge, there must be no communication between the players and the dugout. This makes for some serious controversial challenges. Take Houston’s Ben Gamel, for instance. Both of Houston’s challenges have already been used by two of their younger players. Mets Starting Pitcher Clay Holmes throws him a controversial strike, and Gamel looks back at the dugout, annoyed he can’t challenge. The MLB better be careful, this is one serious flaw that could very well happen in an important circumstance. Both team’s challenges were used up by the 4th Inning, so expect this rule to be changed around. Remember, it’s only an experiment. However, this rule certainly allows for some exciting moments; both good and bad. Keep an eye on this rule, there’s a good chance you’ll need to know it in these upcoming years.
Player Spotlight - Dodgers Adjustment:
The Dodgers are an interesting experiment that we’ve all been asking for a while. What happens when you put together a full team of all-stars? To put it in simpler terms, for you soccer fans, it’s like putting Messi, Ronaldo, and Neymar on the same team. Will they be good? Or will they just never click together? We will know by the end of Spring Training. Sasaki doesn’t even speak fluent English yet! With those stars, it seems pretty difficult to lose. However, if you’re in the area, I certainly recommend you watch this star-studded team, they’re quite a spectacle.
Suggestion - Go Early to Games:
I don’t know how much I could possibly stress this. Go at least an hour before a Spring Training game! Before the game is just as important as the actual game, as it has so many benefits. Watching the young players take batting practice before the game is super fun. You get to see them emerge before they become stars! How awesome is that? You get to stand in their facility and get a chance to get autographs from the players you love. And assuming you’re not eating a hot dog early in the game, all of your team’s stars bat in the early innings. You don’t want to miss your favorite players at-bats, as teams tend to take them out towards the fourth or fifth inning. So, next time you go to a Spring Training game, go early, and enjoy!
