MLB news: Yankees pitching, Cardinals rookie, Cubs-Royals speed

It’s the final Monday before Opening Day, so it’s a perfect time to take a look at some of the latest MLB news, including tidbits involving the New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, and Kansas City Royals.

New York Yankees news: Jhony Brito makes big impression in final spring start

Sure, there are plenty of questions about the New York Yankees and the crippling amount of injuries their rotation is dealing with heading into the 2023 season. However, Jhony Brito’s performance on Sunday may have given the Yankees a glimmer of hope that they can get through the start of the season with some help from internal sources.

Brito faced 16 Toronto Blue Jays batters on Sunday and sat all 16 down, logging a perfect 5.1 innings in New York’s 6-2 win. Those perfect frames lowered his ERA in four outings this spring (covering 11.0 innings) to 2.08 as opponents have hit just .209 against him. Two of those outings came against Toronto, a team he handcuffed this spring with 7.1 scoreless innings where he allowed just two hits.

In all, Brito, who has never pitched in an MLB game, threw 58 pitches on Sunday, with 43 going for strikes.

Could Brito fill in for injured Luis Severino in the Yankees rotation? If Sunday was a test to answer that question, Brito passed it with flying colors.

St. Louis Cardinals news: Jordan Walker’s number change

When Jordan Walker made the Opening Day roster for the St. Louis Cardinals, he also earned a new number.

Wearing number 67 during spring training, Walker will don number 18 when the Cardinals host the Blue Jays in the season opener at Busch Stadium on March 30. There has been plenty of buzz about Walker potentially making the Opening Day roster and that is now a reality. Now it’s a question of how many Walker jerseys bearing number 18 will be worn by fans on Opening Day to honor his debut.

MLB news: Chicago Cubs-Kansas City Royals game shows potential of new rules

The Cubs downed the Royals 5-0 in spring training play on Sunday, but the speed of the game almost overshadowed the final score.

Combining for 10 hits and five runs (including three Chicago homers), the Cubs and Royals played their nine-inning game in one hour and 57 minutes. It’s an example of what MLB hoped to accomplish by introducing the pitch clock rules before this season. How many sub-two-hour MLB games will we see this season? It will be an interesting statistic to follow.