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  • Pirates ace Paul Skenes is looking to add to his already electric arsenal as he enters Year 2

    BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Paul Skenes spent his rookie season dutifully following the Pittsburgh Pirates’ plan to bring their young ace along as slowly and safely as possible. It worked. Maybe better than all involved imagined during an electrifying 2024 in which the towering right-hander started the All-Star Game and captured the National League Rookie of the Year award while becoming perhaps the game’s hottest young star in a decade. It was an incredible ride to be sure. Yet when Skenes arrived this week for his second spring training, he did it with the kind of freedom he lacked a year ago. Oh, and a couple of new pitches, too. The 22-year-old is tinkering with adding a cutter and a running two-seam fastball to an arsenal that already includes a four-seamer that tops out north of 100 mph and a “splinker” that was one of the best put-away pitches in the majors in 2024. “Just trying to create more swing decisions,” Skenes said. Or, nondecisions. Veteran second baseman Adam Frazier, who reunited with the Pirates last month, volunteered to be the first batter to face Skenes during a live batting practice on Saturday. The first pitch the left-handed hitting Frazier saw was a splinker that darted down and away while catching the outside corner of the strike zone. Frazier’s bat never moved as the ball whizzed by, a pitch “nobody is going to do anything with,” as the former All-Star put it. “If you hit it, you’re hitting it straight in the ground,” Frazier added. “So it’s like, ‘All right, strap it on and get ready.’” Frazier, second baseman Nick Gonzales and first baseman Darick Hall all failed to make solid contact off Skenes during a 25-pitch session in which a few dozen fans surrounded one of the practice fields at Pirates City, many of them with their phones raised to capture the first glimpse of Skenes in 2025. Skenes called the attention he commands “a privilege.” It’s also, however, not a priority. The admitted perfectionist is too consumed with his craft to cultivate his celebrity. And for as dominant as he was at times last summer, Skenes knows he’s hardly a finished product after 23 major league starts. Yes, his numbers as a rookie — an 11-3 record with a 1.96 ERA and 170 strikeouts in 133 innings — were dazzling. They were also just the beginning. While Skenes stressed he is not looking to get away from his identity as a strikeout pitcher, he is trying to find a way to get to strike three a little more quickly. “Getting ahead, winning the 0-0, 0-1, 1-1 (pitches), winning those counts, that stuff is important,” he said. That’s where adding a couple of more options to a repertoire that already includes six different pitches comes in. “Anything that looks like a fastball and doesn’t end up being a fastball (helps),” pitching coach Oscar Marin said. “I think we all know how special his fastballs are. (More options are) just something that is going to really open up the zone for him as well.” There is a sense of ease around Skenes that he didn’t necessarily have when he arrived at spring training a year ago as a rookie just trying to make the team. He didn’t initially, not because he wasn’t good enough, but because it was part of the team’s plan to methodically build him up rather than rush him to the majors. While Skenes admits that was “frustrating,” he understands it was the right call. “They did a really good job with me last year,” he said. “I kind of knew, as much as I didn’t want to believe it, that that was how it was going to be when I came into camp.” Not this time. Skenes is a lock to be on the roster when the Pirates break camp. The questions now are whether he’ll be the opening day starter — something Skenes thinks would be “really cool” — and if Pittsburgh is ready to take a step forward into contention despite a relatively quiet offseason. Skenes knows his performance at the top of the rotation is a vital part of that equation. He also knows it’s hardly only up to him. It’s one of the many reasons he plans to take on a more visible leadership role in 2025. There were small signs under a near-cloudless mid-February sky. Wearing long sleeves underneath his black No. 30 jersey, his gray pants pulled up to the knees to expose Pittsburgh-centric socks, Skenes dapped up support staff, chatted with video coordinator Kevin Roach and made it a point to wait for veteran pitcher Mitch Keller to finish before the two slowly walked off the practice fields together. The jitters he felt in 2024 are a rapidly fading memory. He has a little more experience to go with his ever-present swagger and the kind of stuff that few can match. Skenes wasn’t sure how fast he was throwing on Saturday, though he smiled while noting that it was probably faster than 94 mph because if it wasn’t “some other people would have been concerned if it were.” There are no concerns about Skenes at the moment, just optimism at the possibilities. Marin knows the season Skenes put together as a rookie will be difficult to match but allowed “that’s the expectation.” The team’s expectation anyway. While he hasn’t come out and said it, Skenes is likely aiming even higher. “His expectation is probably a little bit different than mine,” Marin said. “But that’s what makes him great.” ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

  • Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani throws 1st BP of spring training, taking a step toward possibly pitching

    GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani threw his first bullpen of spring training on Saturday, taking a step toward possibly pitching for the first time since 2023. The reigning World Series champion and National League MVP has not pitched in the big leagues since Aug. 23, 2023, with the Los Angeles Angels. The right-hander later had elbow surgery that limited him to a hitting role during his first season with the Dodgers in 2024. After throwing on flat ground earlier in the week, he was looking forward to being on the mound in a bullpen session. The Dodgers have ruled out Ohtani as a pitching option in Tokyo, about 280 miles south of his hometown in Japan, when they open the season against the Chicago Cubs on March 18 and 19. Los Angles manager Dave Roberts said he’s hoping “sooner than later,” Ohtani will be cleared to pitch. The 30-year-old Ohtani said he threw a sweeper for the first time on Wednesday, mixing it in with his other pitchers. He is also recovering from a partially torn labrum in his left (non-throwing) shoulder, an injury from sliding into second base during the World Series. Ohtani has been able to take swings during workouts, but acknowledged his range of motion is limited. Ohtani played 159 of 162 games last season as the team’s designated hitter and won his third MVP award and first in the NL and became the first in baseball to join the 50/50 club by hitting 54 home runs and stealing 59 bases. He capped 2024 by winning The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the third time, tying him with basketball great Michael Jordan. He trails four-time winners Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods and LeBron James. ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

  • UK to publish steel industry green paper ahead of schedule due to U.S. tariffs, Observer reports

    LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will publish a green paper for the country’s steel industry on Sunday weeks ahead of schedule due to President Donald Trump’s announcement of fresh tariffs on all steel imports into the U.S., the Observer newspaper reported on Saturday. “The context, both at home and abroad, is behind the sense of urgency that we are demonstrating by bringing forward publication of the strategy,” business minister Jonathan Reynolds told the Observer. The business department did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The Labour government previously said it wanted to invest 2.5 billion pounds ($3.15 billion) in the steel industry and it would publish a strategy on its plans to boost the sector in the spring. Reynolds said on Thursday Britain would seek to persuade the U.S. government that its steel and aluminium products should avoid tariffs due to the sensitive role they play in the U.S. defence sector and its manufacturing supply chains. The Observer said Reynolds would publish a green paper entitled ‘Plan for Steel’ on Sunday. It will look into issues facing the industry, such as high energy costs and international turmoil. Trump said on Sunday he would introduce new 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports into the U.S., on top of existing metals duties. He said earlier in February, when talking about tariffs in general, that he thought something could be “worked out” with Britain. Britain and the United States trade hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of goods and services annually. Industry body UK Steel warned the tariffs could be “devastating” as the U.S. is the second largest export market for UK steel, worth over 400 million pounds a year. ($1 = 0.7946 pounds) (Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Alistair Bell) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

  • Biathlon-Thingnes Boe breaks gold medal record with sprint win

    LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland (Reuters) – Johannes Thingnes Boe’s blistering win in the men’s 10 km sprint on Saturday made him the most successful biathlete at the World Championships as he eclipsed Norwegian compatriot Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, and he might not be done yet.  The 31-year-old was tied with Bjoerndalen on 20 gold medals before his latest victory, and though he has said he will retire at the end of the season, there are still plenty of races left for him at the current championships to add to his tally before he skis off into the sunset as one of the sport’s greats.  “It feels amazing. What a fantastic day, one of my best sprints ever. Getting the 21st victory in the World Championships to make history in my last championships here is unbelievably good. I don’t think I could have had a more perfect competition, and I could not be happier today,” he said.  “Being able to pass Ole Einar Bjoerndalen himself is a big milestone, in my book at least.” Thingnes Boe hit all of his ten shots and was more than 27 seconds faster than New Zealand-born American silver medallist Campbell Wright to pass Bjoerndalen, who was known as the “King of Biathlon”, in terms of gold medals, but his total of 38 world championship medals is seven short of his countryman, who took home 45 in total.  Unfortunately for Thingnes Boe’s many fans watching back home, they didn’t get to see his final series of shots live as the TV production missed them, leading to strong criticism from the 51-year-old Bjoerndalen, who was working for Norwegian TV as an analyst. “Today it was one out of 10 points. It was terrible. You cannot miss the big favourite in the standing (shoot),” he said. “I cannot describe how catastrophic that is for a TV production.” (Reporting by Philip O’Connor; Editing by Daniel Wallis) Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

  • Canada D Cale Makar (illness) game-time decision vs. USA

    Star defenseman Cale Makar will be a game-time decision for Canada’s showdown with the United States on Saturday night at the 4 Nations Face-Off in Montreal. Makar missed practice on Friday due to an illness before participating in the morning skate on Saturday. Dallas Stars defenseman Thomas Harley was in attendance Saturday but did not skate at the same time as Makar. “Trust me, it won’t be a situation … we’ll never put Cale in harm’s way,” Canada coach Jon Cooper said. “If he is in the lineup, he will be good to go.” Canada already had seven defensemen on its original roster for the new international tournament. But Shea Theodore of the Vegas Golden Knights was injured in the first game Wednesday against Sweden and will not be available the rest of the tournament, pushing Philadelphia Flyers defensemen Travis Sanheim into action. Makar, 26, would be a big loss for Canada offensively as well. The four-time All-Star and 2022 Norris Memorial Trophy winner for best defenseman in the NHL led everyone at his position at the league break with 63 points (22 goals, 41 assists). Canada and the U.S. each won their first games of the tournament over Sweden and Finland, respectively. At the end of the round robin, the top two teams are slated to play for the championship Feb. 20 in Boston. –Field Level Media Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

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