More than 800,000 pitches -- about 289 per game -- are projected to be streamed live on MLB.TV in 2016. Severino Gonzalez of the Phillies threw the first one today, and someone will fire the final one to clinch the 112th World Series this fall. Are you ready?
The most widely distributed and No. 1 sports streaming service returned for a 14th year with everything you expect, starting with Blue Jays at Phillies and Reds at Indians (3:05 p.m. ET). They are the first of more than 275 select Spring Training games included on MLB.TV as a way of life returns for millions of hungry Major League Baseball fans.
MLB.TV Premium returns with the same features as last year, but at $109.99, it is 20 bucks cheaper than the 2015 cost. This package has the best value and provides access to more than 400 devices and a free subscription to the MLB.com At Bat Premium app (a $19.99 value). It offers the best picture quality ever -- a new 60 frames per second -- for supported devices. Monthly signups for MLB.TV Premium are now underway as well for $24.99.
The new MLB.TV Single Team package is also now available as an $84.99 yearly subscription. You will be able to watch a single team's live out-of-market games in full HD.
"When I'm in the hotel, I have Apple TV, I take it on the road with me," said Astros shortstop and MLB.TV Premium subscriber Carlos Correa. "At home, I use my iPhone and the At Bat app. It's great for fans to watch the games and be able to replay them and just enjoy baseball."
Giants fan Britt Huber of San Francisco captured the sentiment of many fans when she tweeted this on Monday: "MLB.TV renewed so it's officially baseball season!"
For 2016, MLB.TV Premium subscribers will also get the Mosaic View -- split-screen or quad, available on PC or Mac only. MLB.TV Premium and MLB.TV Single Team subscribers both enjoy HD and both will get real-time highlights and player stats automatically loaded moments after they occur (only for the game you are watching with MLB.TV Single Team, and for all games with MLB.TV Premium).
"I use it because it is the only way to watch baseball here, and I use MLB.TV Premium so I can watch whatever game I want and in full HD," said Tigers fan Øyvind Aasan of Vesterålen in northern Norway. "I can choose if I want to listen to home or away broadcasts and I have full access to the At Bat app. I can watch up to four games at once, plus the one on my phone, which comes in handy late in the season with the hunt for playoff races."
The first two live MLB.TV streams are among six games scheduled for Tuesday. The docket also includes Orioles at Braves (1:05), Pirates at Tigers (1:05), Miami Hurricanes at Marlins (1:05) and Arizona Wildcats at D-backs (5:10) -- all times ET. If it's not on MLB.TV yet, then you still can follow it live using Gameday on your just-updated At Bat app.
On Wednesday, there will be three games on MLB.TV: Tigers (split squad) at Yankees (1:05 p.m. ET), Angels at Giants (3:05) and Indians at Reds (3:05). You can find the full list of schedule Grapefruit and Cactus League streams at MLB.TV/springtraining.
Supporting devices for live Spring Training streams include Mac, PC, Roku, Apple TV, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PlayStation 4, Sony PlayStation Vita, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Nexus Player, Sony and Panasonic, as well as favorite smartphones and tablets (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, select Android phones and tablets, and Amazon Kindle Fire).
It is also time to get back in the habit of checking the MLB schedule, the probable pitchers, the scoreboard and video highlights.
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