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Will the Cincinnati Reds stretch their legs again in 2026?
The Cincinnati Reds swiped a league-best 190 bases as recently as the 2023 season, easily topping the 166 bases swiped by the second-best Arizona Diamondbacks. The emergence of both Elly De La Cruz and TJ Friedl atop the order prompted then-manager David Bell to put his runners on the move as often as possible, and by the end of the 2024 season they had swiped a pretty astounding 207 bases as a team.
That was only good for third-best in all of Major League Baseball as teams all around the league leaned hard into running more often, but still was emblematic of the team speed they had cobbled together during their rebuild.
Then came the managerial change to Terry Francona, as well as the quad issue for Elly and the litany of hamstring and other ailments Friedl had battled through most of 2024. By season’s end in 2025 – Francona’s first in charge with the Reds – they had swiped only 105 bases, the 19th most of any team in the game.
Tito has gone on record as saying that he’s not necessarily opposed to running, just that he’s borderline morally opposed to giving away outs on the bases. And, the more you run, the more you inevitably run into some outs.
On top of that, the major additions to the lineup over the last half-year don’t exactly scream base stealers. Eugenio Suarez certainly isn’t as he heads into turning 35 years old, and Ke’Bryan Hayes has logged 12, 11, and 10 respectively in each of his last three seasons (as he’s fought consistent back issues).
There’s still plenty of base-stealing ability there, however. Spencer Steer has shown it in the past, Matt McLain routinely gets praised for his running ability, and healthy years from Elly and Friedl will almost assuredly see their season totals higher in 2026 than they were in 2025.
So, what’s the verdict? Will the Reds steal more bases this year than they did last season? Will they once again be one of the pace-setters in the game when it comes to speed and aggression?
Unexpected Patriots player reportedly generating free agency buzz
There's been plenty of buzz surrounding the New England Patriots at the NFL combine, and one offensive lineman has been getting a chunk of it. Backup tackle Vederian Lowe, who filled in for Will Campbell for four games in 2025, has been a "popular name at the combine," according to MassLive's Mark Daniels and Karen Guregian.
The Patriots are hoping to re-sign Lowe, a pending free agent, but they could face some competition for his services. Despite serving as a reserve offensive tackle, Lowe showed real growth in New England last season. He had a solid run during his four-game stretch after Campbell suffered an MCL sprain late in the season.
Daniels and Guregian wrote:
"According to a source, the Patriots want to re-sign Lowe. However, they’ll have competition for the veteran. Lowe was a popular name at the Combine for teams looking for a backup left tackle."
The Patriots have worked hard to improve their offensive line depth. Losing a reliable veteran like Lowe would create a void that they would have to fill behind Campbell. There is hope for continuity by keeping Lowe and continuing to improve the depth for the 2026 season.
But left tackles are coveted in the NFL, and other teams could drive up the market enough to price the Patriots out.
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This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: Unexpected Patriots player reportedly generating free agency buzz
Chelsea boss Rosenior urges review on set-piece defending
Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior has urged the Premier League to have a ‘review’ on how set-pieces are defended at the end of the season.
The comments come after Chelsea conceded twice from corners during the club’s 2-1 defeat at Arsenal on Sunday.
Set-piece goals are on the increase in the Premier League this season, with 17.6% of all goals scored via corners in 2025-26. According to Opta, that is the highest percentage in a season in Premier League history.
Arsenal have regularly crowded penalty boxes to make advantage of dead balls, but Rosenior believes that goalkeepers need better protection.
Asked about comments from Liverpool boss Arne Slot, which criticised the current trend of set-pieces, the Chelsea coach called for a review on players affecting the goalkeepers to gain an ‘unfair advantage’.
“I think that is the beauty of football, you can do it in so many different ways. There’s no right or wrong way to play football for me,” he said.
“I’m sure when we scored from a corner yesterday, our fans didn’t care what the goal looked like. I’m sure Arsenal’s fans didn’t care what their goals looked like either. The game is about winning.
“What I would say about corners is that there needs to be a review at the end of the season in terms of the way teams are affecting the goalkeepers and are holding on during defensive set plays. I think that’s something that gives an unfair advantage to certain teams.”
Read – Chelsea boss gives update on Cole Palmer fitness ahead of Aston Villa clash
See more – Every Chelsea player sent off this season as total reaches nine
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Unrivaled hits the road for semifinals at Barclays Center as Phantom loses Aliyah Boston
NEW YORK (AP) — Unrivaled is taking its semifinals on the road, playing at Barclays Center in New York on Monday night.
Top seed Phantom BC will face sixth-seeded Vinyl and No. 2 Mist will play No. 5 Breeze. The top two teams earned byes to this round. The title game will be Wednesday at Unrivaled’s home arena in Miami, with a prize pool of $600,000 to be split among players from the championship club.
Phantom will be missing star forward Aliyah Boston for the rest of the playoffs as she's out with a right lower extremity injury.
Playing at Barclays Center will be a homecoming for Unrivaled co-founder Breanna Stewart, who led the New York Liberty to its first championship in 2024.
The young 3-on-3 league drew a professional women’s basketball regular-season record crowd of 21, 490 that included “Good Morning America” host Robin Roberts, Sixers guard Kyle Lowry, and comedians Leslie Jones and Wanda Sykes when it played in Philadelphia in late January.
The Philadelphia tour stop represented a proving ground on whether taking the product on the road can lead to new revenue and expand the league’s fan base, while recalibrating a business model that was originally rooted in centralization.
MVP
Chelsea Gray won the league's MVP playing for Rose BC on Monday. The guard, who won Unrivaled's 1-on-1 tournament last month, averaged 24.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.1 assists. Gray broke her own league single-season assists record with 85 in 14 games for Rose BC. She had nine games with 20 or more points and 10 contests with five or more assists. She also tied the league single-game 3-pointers record with 10 on Feb. 22.
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