You’re looking at a 162-game baseball season. The number of Twitter accounts breaking down all of those innings is far more than that.
When it comes to stats, videos, fantasy breakdowns and plain fun facts about the game, what are the best handles to follow? As Opening Day approaches, these are some of the must-follow accounts for the long season.
News and notes
Discover the best stories in the game and learn about the latest trades and rumors, 140 characters at a time.
- Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN – 1.27 million followers): ESPN’s excellent insider has great insight. Olney is up on breaking news and rumors, plus he provides a good mix of features and content from eleswhere in the baseball world. H
- Ken Rosethal (@Ken_Rosenthal – 858K followers): This Fox Sports reporter and MLB Network insider brings a wealth of sources. His knowledge of the ins and outs of the game provides balanced analysis alongside up-to-date information.
- MLB (@MLB – 7.05 million followers): The official account of Major League Baseball has everything — news, highlights, features and viral content.
- MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors – 630K followers): As the name suggests, you won’t find a better place for rumors collected from across the majors. The information is always sourced, and journalists and players alike hail the work from this site.
- Your local beat writer: These scribes do the grunt work, and often its their reporting feeding the national writers.
Social media all-stars
These players are some of the best tweeters out there.
- David Price (@DAVIDprice24 – 1.72M followers): You’ll find opinions on the game, fast food, books and just about anything you can think of on this Red Sox pitcher’s feed.
- Jose Bautista (@JoeyBats19 – 1.24M followers): The prodigious bat-flipper and Blue Jays outfielder has a big following, but just as impressive is he follows nearly a million people himself. He just might be following you.
- Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32 – 188K followers): The Dodgers pitcher might be the funniest player in the league, if you go by his tweets. He’s full of fun facts, such as the tidbit he “was responsible for the introduction of Pogs to Colorado in 1994,” and “if you lie down on the floor in McDonald’s, you get to meet the manager.”
- Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco – 513K followers): Sure, he’s retired, but no one in the game has opinions tailor-made for Twitter like this former slugger.
Fantasy land
Trying to win a fantasy league? Give these accounts a follow.
- Yahoo Fantasy Sports (@YahooFantasy – 257K followers): One of the biggest fantasy league providers predictably has a robust account with contributions from staffers and elsewhere. @ESPNFantasy, likewise, has gobs of information.
- FanGraphs Baseball (@fangraphs – 115K followers): You’ll get loads of a stats and minutia about players and teams, and @RotoGraphs is even more specialized to the fantasy side of things.
- Fantasy 411 (@fantasy411 – 37.1K followers): MLB.com’s official account has everything you need to get your lineups set daily.
Extra innings
There’s more to baseball than the day-to-day grind.
- MLB Cathedrals (@MLBcathedrals – 76.8K followers): Interested in the history of the game? This is your account. You’ll get incredible photos from all eras of baseball, from stadiums to players and celebrities. It’s a great account to browse and see a forgotten time.
- MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs – 225K followers): No matter how you pronounce the word, there’s little doubt a good gif can express your feelings over social media better than any emoji. This account has equal parts highlights and humor.
- Old Hoss Radbourn (@OldHossRadbourn – 75.7K followers): Described as a “pitching deity” and “dapper gent,” the account parodies a old-time ballplayer and has fun beyond the diamond, picking on other sports and our modern world.
