Pitchers and catchers of the Los Angeles Angels are scheduled to report on February 15.

That’s nine days from now.

Yes: baseball is almost back.

If we have waited this long, might as well wait a few more days!

When it comes to the Angels, everybody wants to see Shohei Ohtani in action.

He was the 2021 AL MVP and the runner-up in 2022 for a reason: he is a uniquely dominant baseball player.

Angels fans who want to watch him in spring training will need to do it quick, though.

The man has a commitment to play for his country, Japan, during the World Baseball Classic.

As a result, he will leave camp much earlier than anticipated.

“Shohei Ohtani will be at Angels camp until around March 1, and will make one start. He then leaves for Japan and the WBC, per Perry Minasian,” Angels insider Sam Blum tweeted.

Shohei Ohtani will be at Angels camp until around March 1, and will make one start. He then leaves for Japan and the WBC, per Perry Minasian.

— Sam Blum (@SamBlum3) February 4, 2023

The 2023 edition of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) will be played from March 8 to March 21.

It means Ohtani will be in Japan’s camp for a week before the official start of the competition.

The Japanese were the winners of the first two editions of the classic, in 2006 and 2009.

However, Ohtani was just a kid when they both occurred, and wants his first taste of meaningful international competition.

He also wants to make sure Japan returns to the highest place in the podium.

Angels fans will get to enjoy his talents for the whole 2023 season (or until he gets traded, which is a possibility).

Most of his March, however, will have him focused on the WBC.

The post Angels GM Shared A Shohei Ohtani Spring Training Update appeared first on The Cold Wire.

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Nick Wright, Chris Broussard and Kevin Wildes react to news the Dallas Mavericks and Brooklyn Nets have agreed to a deal that will send Kyrie Irving to Dallas and Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and draft compensation to Brooklyn via trade. The First Things First crew also react to news the Phoenix Suns are interested in Kevin Durant and LeBron James’ “it must be me” tweet immediately following the Kyrie to Mavs news.



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The Denver Nuggets are currently the best team in the West, carrying a very strong 37-17 record and ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Clippers, and others.

While the team’s biggest star is surely Nikola Jokic with his 24.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, and 10.1 assists, there are other amazing players on the roster.

One of them is Jamal Murray, who is playing his first season back in the league after being sidelined for an entire year due to an injury.

Jamal Murray this month:

37.0 PPG
5.0 RPG
7.5 APG
5.0 3PG
57/43/83%
70.8 TS%

Elite. pic.twitter.com/zZk6v905On

— NBA Muse (@NBAMuse24) February 5, 2023

It took Murray a bit of time to find his footing again but he’s been doing wonderfully, especially lately.

So far this month, Murray is averaging 37 points, 5 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 5 three-pointers on a stat line of 57/43/83%, and a true shooting percentage of 70.8%.

For the season, that brings Murray’s averages up to 20.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 5.8 assists.

That is almost in line with his 2020-21 season when he was producing 21.2 points, 4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists.

Murray’s ACL injury after that season had the rest of his career up in the air.

There have been some players who have never fully recovered from that sort of injury and many worried he might never play as he used to.

When the 2022-23 season began, Murray certainly looked like someone who had to shake the rust off a bit.

He had multiple games when he wasn’t scoring much and was having trouble with movement and his shot.

But times have obviously changed and Murray is again looking like one of the best guards in the league.

He’s getting better at the perfect time too, as his Nuggets are getting closer and closer to having their best postseason in years.

If he can stay healthy and the team can keep playing like this, they might really end up in the Finals.

The post Jamal Murray Has Had A Tremendous Month appeared first on The Cold Wire.

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