Sports

Robert Sarver is reportedly giving back to his ex-Phoenix Suns employees, and spring training is officially underway in Arizona – these are the top stories in the world of sports from Feb. 20-26.

Fans anxiously waiting for Kevin Durant's debut in a Phoenix Suns jersey will have to wait a little longer.

Connor Ingram, who broke into the NHL with Nashville, had 28 saves for Arizona.

Spring training is in full swing as it rounded out its second day of games with two fan favorites hitting the field – the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Chicago Cubs at Sloan Park. “I always say there's never a bad day at the ballpark."

With the start of a new year also comes a new spring training season, and despite colder temperatures in the Phoenix area, fans still turned out for the first games of the training season.

During baseball's data revolution, the fine art of making borderline pitches look like strikes was found to be a game-changing craft. The calculus, though, could be about to change, along with an equation that’s included the human element for nearly 150 years.

New Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon has asked Petzing to lead an offense that will eventually be built around franchise quarterback Kyler Murray.

The bigger bases — going from 15- to 18-inch squares — are part of a flurry of changes by Major League Baseball designed to put more action and athleticism back in the game and make it more appealing to a younger generation of potential fans.

The bases are bigger, and the pickoff rules are different. The pitch clock has arrived, and infield shifts are gone. Only one thing is certain to stay the same: Everyone will try to find an edge, aiming to take advantage of baseball's dramatic alterations.

Not everyone is as sanguine about the new timers — and whether you’re a pitcher, a catcher, a hitter or a baserunner, there’s no hiding from this rule change. Of all of baseball’s tweaks under Commissioner Rob Manfred, the pitch clock might be the one that affects the most players.