It may be snowy and cold wherever you are, but baseball is on the way back
Random notes:
▪ There may be snow on the ground and ice in the trees most everywhere else, but the Cincinnati Reds’ pitchers and catchers actually report to Goodyear, Arizona, for spring training on Thursday.
▪ A bit of a revamped crew awaits Reds fans on Fox Sports Ohio broadcasts this spring. John Sadak takes over play-by-play duties with Hall of Famer Barry Larkin joining a rotation of analysts including holdovers Chris Welsh and Jeff Brantley. Jim Day will return to his sideline duties.
▪ FanGraphs published its list of Top 100 prospects for Major League Baseball. Two Reds made the Top 100 list with two more just missing. Shortstop Jose Garcia was at No. 49. Catcher Tyler Stephenson was at No. 78. Meanwhile, pitchers Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo were at No. 101 and No. 102, respectively.
▪ MLB.com says former Louisville Ballard High School star Jo Adell of the Los Angeles Angels will be one of 10 hitters who will break out in 2021. “OK, so Adell was bad last year. Really bad. You know who else was bad when he got called up? Mike Trout. We’re not saying Adell is Trout — only Mike Trout is Mike Trout — but you can forgive a top prospect with tons of talent for struggling at age 21. Now here’s one bright spot we saw from Adell in 2020: he can hit the ball hard. Really hard. Like, top-of-the-spectrum exit velocity.”
▪ Louisville basketball just can’t escape COVID-19. Less than five hours before the Cards were to play Syracuse on Wednesday night — U of L’s first game since Feb. 1 — the game was postponed because of another positive test inside the Louisville program.
▪ CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein didn’t take well to Duke’s Jalen Johnson opting out for the rest of the season. Rothstein tweeted: “Opting out” with weeks left in the regular season isn’t opting out. It’s quitting.”
▪ After becoming the only SEC team to beat league leader Alabama, Missouri has lost three straight games.
▪ With its 75-64 win over Florida on Tuesday, Arkansas has now won seven straight SEC games. The Razorbacks are now ranked 24th, the first time since 2018 the Hogs have been in the AP Top 25.
▪ Florida basketball star Keyontae Johnson says he will play again after collapsing on the court earlier this season. Johnson has been serving as a student coach with the Gators since then.
“I would say I’m blessed to be here, yes. There’s just not a lot more to say that that,” Johnson told Chris Harry. A cardiologist was sitting courtside in Tallahassee and ran onto the floor to assist. “I was passed out. I could have died. She jumped out on the court and saved me. If it isn’t for her, I may not have had a second chance in life. You just can’t take life for granted.”
▪ Looks like former UK star Anthony Davis will be out 2-3 weeks with the Lakers because of a calf strain. The most games Davis has played in a season is 75 with New Orleans in both 2015-16 and 2016-17.
▪ Former NFL head coach Rex Ryan spoke to the Centre football team last Saturday in Nashville. Ryan spoke before the Colonels opened their 2020-21 season, played in the spring, with a 30-0 win at Rhodes.
▪ Oaklawn Park has canceled races for the second straight weekend. Next up on the Kentucky Derby prep trail was supposed to be the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes, Saturday at Oaklawn Park. Instead, the race will be run Feb. 27. Two-year-old champion Essential Quality, winner of last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland, is scheduled to make his 2021 debut in the Southwest. Brad Cox is the trainer.
▪ The UK women’s swimming and diving team, ranked No. 3 nationally, is competing in the SEC Championships this weekend. The men’s and women’s diving will run through Saturday in Columbia, Mo. The women’s swimming will run through Saturday in Athens, Ga. The men’s swimming will be held Feb. 23-26 in Columbia, Mo.
The No. 3 national ranking in the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America Division I poll for the UK women is the highest in program history.
