Wednesday was a weird day for the Diamondbacks. They were scheduled to play two games. They wound up playing less than half of one, as their afternoon game against the San Francisco Giants was rained out entirely and their night game against the Milwaukee Brewers was called in the fourth inning. Despite playing less than four innings of baseball, the Diamondbacks suffered their most troubling day of spring training on the injury front. Geraldo Perdomo, Diego Castillo, Corbin Martin and Mark Melancon were all banged up in some shape or form. While Perdomo and Castillo have already returned to Cactus League action following an infield collision, Martin and Melancon will both miss considerable time with shoulder injuries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJd_ct4N4Bs Melancon is…

Josh Doan completed his sophomore season at Arizona State the way that he began it: in dramatic fashion.  After scoring the first goal in Mullett Arena history on Oct. 14 vs. Colgate, Doan scored the game-winning goal as the Sun Devils (18-21) beat Long Island, 2-1 in overtime on Saturday, to complete a frustrating and injury-plagued season on a high note. For Doan, it will also be the last note that he plays at ASU. Doan will not return to the Sun Devils for his junior season. He informed the program on Tuesday that he had opted to turn pro. The Coyotes and their 2021 second-round pick (No. 37) agreed to a three-year, entry-level contract on Thursday and Doan will…

It started as a joke last fall. Every Coyotes fan has heard it. Did you hear the latest about the Yotes? They’re playing in a 5,000-seat college rink. At least it can hold all of their fans. The joke was recycled so much over the following months by unwittingly unimaginative people that it lost all effect and humor. Then word...

If you have attended a baseball game at Chase Field in the past 10 years, chances are you sat down to a scattered crowd of around 20,000 laid-back observers. You likely experienced short concessions lines and a high-five from Baxter, and your hearing was fully intact when you exited the ballpark. The scene on Sunday for Team USA versus Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic was quite different. There were deafening “U-S-A” chants before the first pitch was thrown, many of which were countered with even more deafening “Mé-xi-co” chants from impassioned mobs of green and red. There were spontaneous breakouts of Mexican folk song ‘Cielito Lindo.’ There were noisemaking devices that very well could have been outlawed during…

Thirty-two games into his major-league career, outfielder Corbin Carroll has signed the largest contract extension in Diamondbacks history. According to MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert, the deal is for eight years and $111 million. It also includes a club option for 2031 and performance escalators that could bring the total value of the deal up to nine years and $154 million. Carroll was already under control through 2028, so the deal gives the Diamondbacks cost certainty for 2023-28 and tacks on three additional years of club control from 2029-31. For Carroll, the deal gives certainty of life-changing money and still allows him to enter free agency at age 31. The extension falls in line with a recent trend of MLB teams extending…

With Cactus League play nearing its midway point and the season opener now just three weeks away, the Diamondbacks’ Opening Day roster is coming into focus. Although the team still has 62 players in major-league camp, nailing down that list of 26 players is not as difficult as it might seem. It appears that most of it was set in stone before spring training began. The relative lack of open competitions in spring camp is a good sign for the D-backs. More players are established at their positions, and players who might have been considered for roles in recent years have been forced to depart for other organizations to find those opportunities. The bar has been raised. While there aren’t…

When the Coyotes hosted a Tempe Wins campaign event at The Shop Beer Co. on Feb. 23, the crowd of about 75 people was sprinkled with skeptics.  Once Coyotes president and CEO Xavier A. Gutierrez had completed a slideshow presentation on the arena and entertainment district proposal, he held a Q&A session. That’s when the misinformation began flying his way. Why should the voters trust a team that was kicked out of Glendale for non-payment of bills and taxes? The truth: They weren’t kicked out for non-payment of bills and taxes. Glendale wanted the Coyotes to stay, even after the well publicized failure to pay bills. They parted ways with the Coyotes because the franchise refused to sign a long-term…

It would be a painful piece of irony if 4,600-seat Mullett Arena cost the Coyotes the opportunity to draft Connor Bedard, Adam Fantilli or Leo Carlsson. When Arizona rallied from a two-goal, third-period deficit on Sunday to force overtime against the Cup contending New Jersey Devils, it improved the Coyotes’ record at home to 14-11-3.  Compare that to the other...

With only 10 Cactus League games in the books, it is too early to declare a winner for the Diamondbacks’ fifth starting rotation spot. But, based on the numbers, two youngsters have already separated themselves: right-handed flamethrower Drey Jameson and top pitching prospect Brandon Pfaadt. In two starts, Jameson has pitched four scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and one walk with three strikeouts. Pfaadt has pitched five scoreless innings in his two appearances, allowing just two hits and two walks with six strikeouts. By comparison, fellow rotation candidates Tommy Henry and Ryne Nelson have struggled mightily. https://twitter.com/PHNX_Dbacks/status/1632125401727373313?s=20 Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though. Pitchers often throw more than 20 innings in the Cactus League. At the moment, no…