This year has not only made high school sports look different, but professional sports too. It is about that time to welcome back Major League Baseball. The MLB hit off spring training on Wednesday, Feb 17. The teams are divided up into two leagues. The Grapefruit League consists of: 

The Atlanta Braves 

The Baltimore Orioles 

The Boston Red Sox

The Detroit Tigers 

The Houston Astros 

The Miami Marlins 

The Minnesota Twins 

The New York Mets 

The New York Yankees 

The Philadelphia Phillies  

The Pittsburgh Pirates 

The St. Louis Cardinals 

The Tampa Bay Rays 

The Toronto Blue Jays 

and The Washington Nationals 

The Grapefruit League is based in Florida. The teams have been playing one another and preparing for upcoming Opening Day. Opening Day is the day the MLB officially begans their regular game season. Fans have been allowed at Spring Training to watch their favorite teams prepare. Tickets are limited and spread out, but they are still popular. MLB has been given the all clear to allow fans to games. Most teams have limited seating and tickets must be bought far in advance, but the season is returning as normal as possible. Many players have been showing great improvements in the past few months. 

Jacob deGrom is a pitcher for the New York Mets. He recently turned 33, an age at which pitchers tend to slow down and retire. deGrom has been showing good stats this year and is pitching 100-102 mph. 

deGrom has had good feelings about this upcoming season. “I feel good. I tried to stay as smooth as I can and it seems to be coming out good.” deGrom tells reporters of CBS. deGrom has been throwing better each year and continues to impress. 

The other league is called the Cactus League. The league consists of: 

The Arizona Diamondbacks

The Chicago Cubs 

The Chicago White Sox

The Cincinnati Reds

The Cleveland Indians 

The Colorado Rockies 

The Kansas City Royals 

The Los Angeles Angels 

The Los Angeles Dodgers 

The Milwaukee Brewers 

The Oakland Athletics 

The San Diego Padres 

The San Francisco Giants 

The Seattle Mariners 

and The Texas Rangers 

This league is following the exact same proticalls and ticket selling as the Grapefruit league. They are just in a different location. The Cactus league is based in Arizona. 

Shohei Ohtani is a pitcher for the Angels. Last year was not the best for him. He walked 16 batters and gave up seven runs. More recently, he has been looking better. In 2018, Ohtani’s elbow gave out, resulting in Tommy John surgery. His pitches during spring training have been up to 103 mph says ESPN. 

Ohtani has been struggling during Spring Training the last few years. “The last couple years, I had some type of rehab schedule for each of my spring training days,” Ohtani recently told reporters, including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya. “This year, it’s not like that, so I’m definitely having more fun. It was hard for me to have fun the last couple years because of that.” 

His manager gave him the two thumbs up for Ohtani to return this season. Baseball fans have a lot to look forward to this upcoming MLB season. It will be a little different for those fans, but it is on its way back to normal.