The Art Ross Trophy, awarded to the player with the most points at the end of an NHL season comes down to the final day of the season, April 18. Three of the biggest stars in the game have been fighting for superiority for most of the campaign. Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers has won each of the past three scoring races and the Art Ross five times in his nine-season NHL career. Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning, in his 10th NHL season, won the trophy in 2018-19.  The Race Nikita Kucherov – 136 points (43 goals, 93 assists). Nathan MacKinnon – 131 points (48 goals, 83 assists). Connor McDavid – 128 points (31 goals, 97 assists). The Skinny Kucherov: The Tampa Bay forward had three assists Saturday, including two in the third period to build his lead. Nikita has points in 19 of his last 20 matches (42 points; seven goals, 35 assists). He has 51 points more than Brayden Point, who is second on the Lightning with 85. Games remaining: 5 Next game: Tuesday vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (7 p.m. ET; ABC, BSSUN, BSOH) MacKinnon: The Avalanche centre had one assist in a 6-2 defeat at the Edmonton Oilers Friday. MacKinnon has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his last four matches and 46 points (16 goals, 30 assists) in his past 24 games. Nathan is eight points behind Peter Stastny for the Avalanche / Quebec Nordiques record for points in a campaign. Peter had 139 points (46 goals, 93 assists) in 1981 -82 with Quebec. MacKinnon needs two goals for his first 50-goal season and to become the sixth player in franchise history to attain that plateau. Games remaining: 6 Next game: Sunday vs. Dallas Stars (10 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN). McDavid: The Oilers captain had two goals against the Avalanche on Friday, becoming the fourth player in Edmonton history with eight straight 30-goal seasons, joining Jari Kurri (10 from 1980-81 to 1989-90). Wayne Gretzky (nine from 1979-80 to 1987 – 88) and Glen Anderson (eight from 1980 -81 to 1987-88). Games remaining: 7 Next game: Saturday at Calgary Flames (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SNE, SNO, SNW, TVAS2).

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts described Yoshinobu Yamamoto as an artist, pointing to pitching being his best skill. A few hours later, Yamamoto created a big league-level masterpiece. In the first true road game of his Major League career, Yamamoto picked up right where he left off in his last start, striking out eight and permitting only three hits over five scoreless innings, leading the Dodgers to a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday at Wrigley Field. Yamamoto also scored his first win in the Majors. After the game, as he prepared to answer questions from the media, he was summoned by Mookie Betts for his first-ever beer shower. “I think Yoshi’s awesome,” said Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes. “I think he’s going to be fine. He’s pitched great against the Cardinals and pitched well today. When he gets his feet under him, I think he’ll be one of the best pitchers in this game.” After one of the worst starts of his professional career in Seoul, South Korea against the San Diego Padres, was just one inning, Yamamoto proved why he was the most sought-after pitcher on the market this winter. Over his last two starts, Yamamoto has punched out 13 and has not given up a run in his 10 innings. “He’s been good. And you know, it’s what we expected,” said Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy. “That’s what everyone expected when you talk about the kind of contract that he got. But it’s been fun to watch.” The outing did not get off a good fitting for Yamamoto as Chicago loaded up the bases in the first inning with nobody out. After the early traffic, Yamamoto delivered the best escape job of his short big-league career. He struck out Christopher Morel, Dansby Swanson and Michael Busch in a row to strand the bases loaded. Once he froze Busch on a curveball on the outside corner, Yamamoto let out a roar heard throughout a silent Wrigley Field. “Well, I think he just didn’t want a repeat of Seoul. You could see it,” Roberts. “He got off to a slower start there and found a way to reach back and limit or have no damage in that inning. For him to hold his stuff, his stuff was still good at 81 pitches in the fifth inning. There’s just a lot of fight. Great competitor.” In the second, Yamamoto escaped another bases-loaded jam by striking out Cody Bellinger looking. That was the last chance for the Cubs against Yamamoto on Saturday, as he retired the 10 batters he faced. Yamamoto delivered a four-seam fastball at 97 mph and a curveball considered among the best in the league from a right-handed pitcher. The Japanese phenom got 13 swings and misses on Saturday. That is the most in a match over his first three starts in his Major League career. “There’s some plus offspeed in there, certainly. It’s a full package,” said Cubs manager Craig Counsell. “I mean, he’s got four plus pitches. So he’s going to be a challenge for sure. We pressured him in the first two innings, but unfortunately, we couldn’t break through. And then he got into a rhythm, which is unfortunately what happens against the good ones, right?” After his start against the Padres, there were some nerves and concerns about how good Yamamoto could be at this level. It was only one start, of course, but that is what happens when a club signs the biggest contract for a pitcher in Major League history. But over his last two starts, Yamamoto is showing exactly why he won the pitching Triple Crown in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League each of the past three seasons. “The season is long. We have a long way to go,” Yamamoto said. “I just took it one game at a time and focused on one game.” Related News: Heyward and Dodgers pay a surprise visit to Chicago Youth Baseball Academy.

Despite being on the injured list, Jason Heyward ensured he was present for the Dodgers’ trip to Chicago. It is still where he calls home from his time playing with the Cubs. It is also a city where he makes his biggest impact off the field. Over the years, Jason has always been passionate about giving back to the community. From childhood, he knew it was his passion project if he ever got the opportunity. As he began to build roots in Chicago, Heyward wanted to open a place for kids to practice the game. In 2021, he opened the Jason Heyward Baseball Academy in the Austin neighbourhood on the West side of Chicago. Since its opening, Heyward has constantly tried to make it a place for everyone. After the LA Dodgers game at Wrigley Field, he and his teammates visited the kids. The Dodgers, led by Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Chris Taylor, and Heyward, surprised local kids during a baseball scrimmage. As you would expect, the kids were joyous. “The kids that are going to be there to get that surprise of seeing a Major League Baseball player, I think is cool,” Heyward said before the event. “As a young kid, anytime I had a chance to get remotely close to a player, it left a lasting impact on me. Getting to go to baseball games, and any interaction just brought me closer to hope of becoming one. With that, I got the incentive to get into college, get into UCLA and keep shooting past that and see how far I can go.” Heyward has accomplished a lot in his career, which includes a World Series title with the Cubs in 2016. “How much it meant to have this space there and now that I’m one of the main partners at the By The Hand Club, having the Jason Heyward Baseball Academy, having this turf field, it’s special,” Heyward said. “For me to be able to do this now, coming back and bringing teammates through and allowing guys to work out there during the offseason and then so on. This is a space people from the Midwest or coming from all over the country will use.” Last year, Heyward and his teammates visited the Academy to check out the facilities. In return, he took his teammates to a dinner in the city the past two years. But for Heyward and the Dodgers players, seeing the joy on the kids’ faces when they walked in on Friday was sufficient compensation. “The kids are going to be a little older this year and doing a baseball scrimmage as well,” Heyward said. “They’ll know their way around the game even more. It’s great having teammates’ support. I can’t take that for granted.” Related News: Tony Clark lambasts league’s new reduced pitch clock rule after rise in pitcher injuries.

Stephen Strasburg, the 2019 World Series MVP whose career was stalled by injuries, has officially been listed by Major League Baseball as retired. In August, a person who knew about the situation told The Associated Press that Strasburg would not resume pitching. The MLB transaction list showed this simple entry: “RHP Stephen Strasburg retired.’’ A spokesperson for the Washington Nationals said the team would not comment until Strasburg has done so. Strasburg was a hard-throwing right-hander who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 amateur draft. He briefly rose to stardom, leading the franchise to the first championship in Nationals history. But Stephen has not pitched since June 9, 2022. His only start that season, lasted 4 ⅔ innings before he returned to the injured list. He had surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, a nerve and blood disorder that involved removing a rib and two neck muscles. Strasburg has thrown just 528 pitches in the majors since signing a $245 million, seven-year contract in December 2019 and did not report to spring training in 2023 or 2024. Strasburg had a 100-plus mph fastball, making him a generational talent when he came out of college. He became one of the faces of Washington’s franchise after making a grand debut on June 8, 2010. Strasburg struck out 14 batters and permitted two runs on four hits with no walks against the Pittsburgh Pirates to win a memorable game that was tagged “Strasmas.’’ After he underwent Tommy John surgery early in his career, Washington shut him down late in the 2012 season. This was while he was 15-6 with a 3.16 ERA. Without Strasburg, they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Division Series. The long-term benefit of the shutdown did not manifest until October 2019, when Stephen went 5-0 with a 1.98 ERA. On Washington’s championship run, he won each of his two starts against Houston in the World Series, which the Nationals won in Game 7. Strasburg went 113-62 with a 3.24 ERA in 247 career regular-season starts in the majors, all with Washington. He was a three-time NL All-Star and led the National League in strikeouts with 242 in 2014 and in innings pitched with 209 in 2019, which was his last full season. Related News: Tony Clark lambasts league’s new reduced pitch clock rule after rise in pitcher injuries.

Tony Clark, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association is frustrated because pitchers have been dropping left and right. Recently, it was announced that Shane Bieber would be out for the season due to Tommy John surgery. But, Bieber is not the only one. Eury Perez, Spencer Strider, Jonathan Loaisiga, and many others are experiencing UCL problems. Many people point to the MLB’s reduced pitch clock as being the cause. This season, the MLB reduced its pitch clock from 20 seconds to 18 with runners on base. Clark recently made a statement about the matter on Saturday, discussing his displeasure with the league for not protecting its players. Clark stated that there was massive pushback to the league reducing the pitch clock, but they did it anyway. He is frustrated by the MLB’s ‘unwilingness’ to acknowledge there is a problem or even study the effects beforehand. Tony Clark is not pleased with the growing number of injuries At this rate, teams will have to dip into their minor league teams to find healthy pitchers. That is a problem for the league, and Tony Clark wants those with the power to rectify the problem. Some of the best pitchers in the league are presently down with injuries. Justin Verlander is currently on rehab assignment and Clayton Kershaw is eyeing a mid-summer return. Is too early into the season for teams to be worried about the number of arms they have. If more pitchers leave, more people will want the MLB to reconsider its pitch clock.