Jack Janes

ANAHEIM, Calif. — “That’s all you need, is an iPad!” home plate umpire Erich Bacchus yelled at Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery after ejecting him from the game in late July.

Montgomery was irate because Luis Rengifo struck out looking while not seeing a single pitch in the strike zone in a critical spot in the game. Rengifo represented the tying run in the eighth inning, and New York Mets closer Edwin Díaz got the call on three back-door sliders that were all in the same spot, a few inches off the plate.

Bacchus had a point. It’s much easier to see where pitches end up after the fact, as opposed to in real time, with how fast and how much pitches move these days. But it wasn’t always this way.

ANAHEIM -- Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez’s Angels tenure will begin on the injured list.

Angels manager Kurt Suzuki announced Sunday that Rodriguez will start the 2026 season on the injured list, as he’s been dealing with dead arm since a Spring Training start on March 11. Despite the ominous news, Suzuki emphasized that they are being cautious with Rodriguez.

“We're going to be careful with him to a point,” Suzuki said. “Right now we're just going to slow-play it a little bit, work him back slowly and we don't want to rush him.”

PHOENIX — Atlanta Braves prospect Nacho Alvarez Jr. chased a slider outside of the strike zone, and it chased him from the lineup for two weeks.

As Alvarez reached out with his swing, he felt a sharp pain in his side.

“My left side just blew up,” Alvarez said.

Infielder Alvarez, 22, was sent to the injured list with a strained oblique, an injury that is becoming more common among hitters with each passing year.

TEMPE – It was 10 years ago when Joey Daccord sat in coach Greg Powers’ office at Oceanside Ice Arena while on an official visit to Arizona State. At the time, the Sun Devils hadn’t played a game of Division I hockey, and the rink they played at was far below Division I standards.

Daccord grew up in the Boston area and knew what a great college hockey program was supposed to look like. He could easily have been turned off by what he saw at Oceanside and looked for a school in the East, but Daccord was able to look beyond the dusty, cramped arena.

He saw the foundation Powers was building and the vision ASU had for what the Sun Devils hockey program could become.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The final horn sounded at Xcel Energy Center, concluding Arizona State’s head-turning first season in the NCHC. After the handshake line, the ice cleared out and remained barren with the exception of graduate forward Artem Shlaine, who was taking a knee on the ice with his head locked into place and eyes fixated on the ice below him.

Junior forward Tucker Ness hung out at ASU’s bench and allowed Shlaine to sit in his thoughts. Once Shlaine was ready to leave the ice, he skated to the bench where Ness was waiting. Ness gave Shlaine a hug, a tap on top of the helmet and then skated off. Shlaine took another moment before getting off the ice to scan the arena one last time.