
Spoelstra: No need to penalize Ball any further
Erik Spoelstra supports no further penalties for LaMelo Ball after flagrant foul.
Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe has begun his rehab assignment with the Somerset Patriots after offseason labrum surgery. Gerrit Cole will also join him on the rehab trail following Tommy John surgery in March 2025.
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Tampa, Fla.: New York Yankees Gerrit Cole showing teammate Anthony Volpe his family after pitching during live batting practice at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida, on February 21, 2024. (Photo by J. Conrad Williams, Jr./Newsday RM via Getty Images) | Newsday via Getty Images
SNY | Chelsea Janes: For the first time since the 2025 postseason, Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe played a competitive baseball game. It happened to be with the Yanksâ Double-A affiliate, the Somerset Patriots, as he starts his rehab assignment after offseason labrum surgery. He said he felt great and called it a big milestone.
Regarding the next steps in his recovery process, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that he will play minor league games until at least next week. After resting on Wednesday, he will return for five-plus frames on Thursday and Friday, then take a day off Saturday, and play again on Sunday. After Mondayâs offday, heâll likely go to Scranton to continue his rehab. âProbably four or five games next week, then weâll kind of evaluate and see where weâre at from there,â Boone said.
In the postgame following the Yanksâ exciting win on Wednesday, Boone dropped another nugget: Gerrit Cole will be joining Volpe on the rehab trail with Somerset. Itâll be his first pro start since underdoing Tommy John surgery in March 2025. Obviously he has a long way to go to build up, but itâs a significant milestone for the ace on his journey back to a big-league mound.
NY Daily News | Gary Phillips: After sending Yerry De Los Santos back to Triple-A late on Tuesday, the Yankees announced the promotion of Angel Chivilli on Wednesday to . He has pitched 8.1 perfect innings with Scranton so far after a rough spring. The 23-year-old had a 6.18 ERA over 73 MLB games in Colorado in the last two seasons, 2024 and 2025.
Anthony Volpe has started his rehab assignment with the Somerset Patriots and reported feeling great after his first competitive game.
Gerrit Cole will begin his rehab with the Somerset Patriots, marking his first pro start since undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2025.
Volpe will play minor league games for at least another week, with plans for four to five games before reevaluation.
Aaron Boone indicated that Volpe's return to play is a significant milestone in his recovery process.

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âWe think thereâs more room there for his secondary to become really good pitches for him,â Aaron Boone said. âFor him, itâs about controlling the strike zone and command. If he can control counts, heâs got some swing and miss with his secondary stuff. The fastball is big. Heâll be in the mid-to-upper-90s with his fastball, but he needs his secondary.â
New York Post | Mark W. SĂĄnchez: If you thought Ryan McMahonâs recent bunt attempt was bizarre, well, it appears to be part of a broader organizational focus on bunting. Before the Yankeesâ official round of batting practice on Tuesday, JosĂ© Caballero, Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Trent Grisham, and Ryan McMahon took turns to lay down bunts against a pitching machine. What does this mean for the Yankees and their 2026 approach? We donât know, but Austin Wells successfully got on base with a bunt on Wednesday.
FanGraphs | Dan Szymborski: Even though he hasnât played every day, Ben Rice is terrorizing the league already. Szymborski marvels at his 70 percent hard-hit rate and says heâs here to stay. âIf youâre a fan of another team in the AL East, as I am (Baltimore Orioles), youâve probably been waiting for Rice to come crashing back to Earth. Given how heâs hit in 2026, however, I fear weâll have to pin our collective hopes on other sources of Yankees misfortune. Ben Riceâs power is real and it is spectacular,â he explained.
Yahoo Sports | Jake Mintz: This is a wonderful tribute to the 103-year-old Rachel Robinson, Jackieâs widow, with a touching article praising her legacy on his day. Shared are stories of how they met, how they fell in love, and how she helped one of the most prominent figures in baseball history through thick and thin.
âThroughout Jackieâs most tumultuous times, Rachel was a rock, there by his side as he broke baseballâs color barrier,â Mintz wrote. Itâs definitely worth a read.