WASHINGTON -- For years, the Wizards would head into a season with proclamations from players, management or ownership -- if not all three -- about how many wins they were hoping for or how deep a playoff run they thought possible.

New general manager Tommy Sheppard outlined a different definition of success Thursday, saying 2019-20 is "all about player development."

After all, the club is coming off a 32-50 record, has a mostly reworked roster and will be without injured All-Star point guard John Wall for the foreseeable future. Sheppard took the GM job on an interim basis when Ernie Grunfeld was fired late last season. After running free agency and the draft, Sheppard was given the permanent post in July.

His task is to rebuild, although his word of choice is "revitalize."

Sheppard said watching and measuring players and helping them improve over the course of the season is his chief aim for now.

"It's not just by a stat sheet. It's all the things that you're asked to do on the floor," Sheppard said at a news conference. "Are you able to go out there, execute consistently, and we see you improve the things that we're asking you to do? We're asking players to be stars in their role, essentially, right?

"You get some guys that ... the only time the ball's coming to you is the end of the shot clock. So we're asking you to set great screens. We're asking you to be a selfless help-side defender. We can evaluate that to see if you're doing those things. I think those are areas that we're going to evaluate and watch the roster get better."

With training camp to open next week, Sheppard said he has not heard from shooting guard Bradley Beal about the contract extension he has been offered. Beal has until Oct. 21 to accept it. If not, he is under contract for two more seasons.

Wall is out for most, if not all, of the season because of a ruptured Achilles tendon -- Sheppard said the NBA has not ruled on whether Washington can use a disabled player exception -- leaving Beal as the team's unquestioned best player and leader.

"Really excited to see what Bradley Beal does this season," Sheppard said. "He's a tremendous cornerstone of this franchise. We're very blessed to have him."

Sheppard offered some updates on injured players:

• First-round draft pick Rui Hachimura, who left Japan's World Cup team early because of knee discomfort, is "in good shape" and "didn't leave the court" when players held a pickup game for more than an hour Wednesday.

• Isaiah Thomas, who had surgery on his left thumb last week, is out of a cast and wearing a splint; he'll sit out the entire preseason and the start of the regular season.

• C.J. Miles, whose left foot was operated on for a stress fracture in July, took shots Thursday and was on the court for more than an hour.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Responding to recent critical comments made by Kevin Durant about the Oklahoma City Thunder organization, general manager Sam Presti pushed back against the idea that there's lingering animosity.

"If there is anything that Kevin Durant ever, ever needed from me or from anyone here, it would be a moment's notice for that to happen," Presti said Thursday. "I also think if you work with people for eight years like we did, he and I -- he was 19 when he came into the NBA, I was 29. We both went through a lot of changes together, and I have nothing but positive things to say about him and his tenure here.

"You've asked me that in the past. You've asked me that today. You can ask me that in the future if something like this comes up again. I'm never going to change that tune because that's how I feel."

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Durant singled out Presti while criticizing team staffers and the fan base about how he was treated during his first return game to Oklahoma City with the Golden State Warriors.

"I eventually wanted to come back to that city and be part of that community and organization, but I don't trust nobody there," Durant said. "That s--- must have been fake, what they was doing. The organization, the GM, I ain't talked to none of those people, even had a nice exchange with those people, since I left."

Durant, now a member of the Brooklyn Nets, has gone back and forth regarding his feelings about the Thunder since his 2016 departure, calling OKC "home" in one interview and also saying he had fun during the return game. But his most recent comments were directed more specifically at Presti and the organization.

"I would always be there if he needed anything from me, and I truthfully believe ... it would be reciprocated, as well," Presti said of Durant.

Asked about Durant's claim he hasn't had a "positive conversation" with anyone in the organization, Presti, who called Durant's contributions to the Thunder "monumental," deferred.

"I've never made it a habit of getting into my personal conversations with our former players, other than to say I feel really good about those relationships, and I think you can hear in my voice the way I feel about him," Presti said. "That hasn't changed, and it won't change."

Presti also addressed recent comments from Clippers coach Doc Rivers, who claimed there was knowledge the Thunder wanted to "break up their team," which prompted Los Angeles' move to trade for Paul George.

"No," Presti said when asked if Rivers' claim was true. "I mean, again, I don't know the context in which that comment was made, and obviously no one asked us our opinion about it. But no. ... We all know that players like Paul George and Russell Westbrook are extremely hard to acquire in cities, in the smaller cities in the league, and when you have those players, you try to do everything you can to retain them."

George was traded nearly a week into free agency -- not exactly an ideal time to begin a roster teardown -- after the Thunder had agreed to deals with veterans Mike Muscala and Alec Burks, anticipating them as additions to a contending-level team.

"I think the thought pattern just doesn't really line up if you just look at it logically," Presti said. "Probably that type of thing would have been done much earlier and it wouldn't have resulted from a trade request from one of your best players."

After George was traded and the outlook for the Thunder had shifted, they allowed Muscala and Burks to reevaluate their options. (Muscala stayed; Burks signed with the Warriors.)

In the wake of George's trade, Presti was very candid in saying the Thunder were approaching the upcoming season with the possibility of it being the last for their core group. The pivot to a possible teardown wasn't coming until at least the following summer, but following George's trade request, the Thunder enacted a new plan. They traded Westbrook to Houston soon after the George deal.

"There's nothing illegal about what took place," Presti said. "PG handled that like a pro with us. It wasn't the conversation I wanted to be having in the middle of free agency, but it was handled professionally and in a way that was respectful, and we were able to make it work for us."

The NBA G League is experimenting this season with a new rule under which trips to the free throw line will include only a single foul shot that will be worth one, two or three points depending on the nature of the foul leading to the attempt, officials told ESPN.

It marks the latest move -- in both the G League and the NBA -- to improve game flow and reduce the length of games. Officials estimate that moving to a "one foul shot for all the points" model will shave between six and eight minutes off each G League game, said Brad Walker, head of basketball operations for the league.

The average G League game clocked in at about 2 hours, 5 minutes last season, Walker said. This move could take that average below the two-hour barrier, a clean broadcast window that has been in the minds of league officials for years.

The G League will revert to traditional free throw rules for the final two minutes of regulation and overtime, officials said. Shooting fouls on made baskets -- and-1s -- will proceed the same way, with the shooter attempting one free throw worth one point.

The NBA's competition committee has discussed the concept in recent meetings, and league officials brought it up to NBA head coaches at their annual preseason gathering in Chicago earlier this month, officials said.

The G League has pondered the concept for years, but in the past, it did not appear to have enough momentum for passage. Some within the league raised concerns about the decrease in on-court rest time for players, though coaches could mitigate that with more frequent substitutions.

The league has already reduced timeout lengths -- a move that shaved about four minutes off game times -- and did not hear any pushback about the impact on in-game rest, Walker said.

"We don't know how big of a deal it will be at the G League level until we try it," Walker said.

Officials also worried about deviating from historical statistical standards, according to reporting in 2014 from ESPN's Kevin Arnovitz. The NBA then brandished evidence showing players shoot more accurately on the second and third attempts of any trip to the line, a finding that has held across other independent studies. Logic follows that moving to a one-shot rule would result in an overall decrease in league-wide free throw accuracy. The raw number of attempts would obviously drop sharply.

"We might hear some blowback on that," Walker said, "but I think [the change] is going to be great for game flow."

Others wondered how the one-shot rule might change the way trailing teams approach late-game fouling -- and whether it would increase or decrease the likelihood of dramatic comebacks.

Trailing teams foul on purpose to stop the clock. The one-shot rule bumps up the likelihood of those fouls resulting in zero points -- a boon for comebacks. But it also eliminates the 1-of-2 splits that provide trailing teams some hope. Overall, the rule probably adds more variance to game outcomes.

Walker said the G League worried the lure of those empty trips might push trailing teams to start intentionally fouling earlier. That led to the decision to revert to traditional free throw rules in the final two minutes, he said.

"We don't want to incentivize fouling," Walker said.

The G League contemplated moving back to traditional free throw rules even earlier -- with five minutes remaining or even for the entire fourth quarter, Walker said.

The NBA has taken several measures over the past half-decade to improve game flow: reducing total combined timeouts from 18 to 14 in 2017, mandating teams return to the floor after timeouts in a timely fashion, and punishing so-called "Hack-a-Shaq" fouls and intentional fouls committed away from the play more harshly across larger chunks of games.

The G League has taken additional steps, including trying to limit so-called "transition take fouls" -- basically wrap-ups of ball handlers that stop fast breaks but do not qualify as clear-path fouls -- by awarding the fouled team one free throw and possession. The G League has also used a coach's challenge in recent seasons, and the NBA will implement one for the first time this season -- a change that could add replay breaks into crunch time.

The one-shot free throw rule will be evaluated at the end of the season, with the G League deciding whether to go forward with it in 2020-21 and potentially beyond, officials said.

LeBron James has been the No. 1 player in ESPN's NBArank since the beginning. He had just disappointed and somewhat disappeared in the 2011 NBA Finals loss to the Dallas Mavericks, yet he was still recognized as the game's greatest all-around performer later that year. For eight seasons we asked ESPN's basketball experts to predict the best player in the game, and for eight seasons LeBron has been undeniable.

Now, there's someone else at No. 1. Our panel has James as the No. 3 player for 2019-20.

Every LeBron James season is its own kind of unprecedented experience. This one might carry the most unknowns. In the modern game, there's really no case of lead shot-creators like James making All-NBA at age 35. He looked mortal in his first season with the Los Angeles Lakers. He's adjusting to a remodeled roster and an elite big man in Anthony Davis.

So, is the ranking right? And if LeBron isn't the best player in the NBA anymore, then what is he?

Four of our NBA experts look into the big questions and expectations surrounding his upcoming season.

More: NBArank 100-51 | 50-31 | 30-11 | 10-3

Doubts, drama and dominance

Jackie MacMullan: What should we expect from LeBron James this season? Another season filled with intrigue and drama. Let's be honest: He can't help it!

Perhaps there will be veiled passive-aggressive tweets. Maybe his physical response to a game gone awry will include a tell. Either way, it won't take much guesswork to figure out how LeBron feels about the Lakers' season, because he'll let us know.

Has any other athlete ever used social media so effectively? James transformed Taco Tuesday into a national phenomenon, and then he had the good sense to attempt to trademark it. He invites us into his world on his terms, whether it's sharing a glimpse of his punishing workouts in the gym or endearing clips of his sons playing basketball in the yard before the sun comes up. These windows into his soul have enhanced his standing as one of the most popular players in NBA history.

There's nothing more confounding for elite athletes to confront than their own mortality. LeBron already experienced this on a smaller scale because of a strained left groin that shut down his 2018-19 season.

Perhaps he will carve out his own version of load management this time around. James has already conceded he conserves his energy on the defensive end during meaningless regular-season contests. And yes, there has been a decline in his lateral quickness. But are you going to be the one who declares he's trending downward?

In his maiden voyage with the Lakers last season, which ended in disappointment and frustration from all sides, he still submitted 27.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 8.3 assists a game. The beauty of LeBron is his ability to take slights, real or imagined, and channel them into a frothy lather that will display his undeniable talents yet again. There's no denying he zeroed in on the doubters during this long offseason with laser focus, and that he will emerge recentered and highly motivated to reclaim his throne.

Alright alright. Enough is enough. The throne has been played with to much and I ain't for horseplay. Ether coming soon! ??????????? #JamesGang✊?

— LeBron James (@KingJames) August 1, 2019

So LeBron will bully on, mowing over coaches and teammates and pundits and general managers and owners and anyone else in his way who dares to defy his method of grasping for that elusive fourth ring. Most of the time amid that pursuit, he will be a force of nature, a runaway locomotive, the epitome of a champion. But every once in a while, his biggest strength -- his undisputed reign as the king of player empowerment -- will reveal itself as his most glaring weakness.

Glass of cabernet, anyone?

What will well-rested LeBron look like?

Kevin Arnovitz: Andre Agassi's autobiography, "Open," eloquently shares the physical and mental anguish of the aging athlete. On the first page of the introductory chapter, Agassi introduces himself as a heaping bundle of bones, muscles and joints who now wakes up every morning as a "stranger to myself."

"I'm a young man, relatively speaking," Agassi writes. "Thirty-six. But I wake as if ninety-six. After three decades of sprinting, stopping on a dime, jumping high and landing hard, my body no longer feels like my body, especially in the morning. Consequently my mind doesn't feel like my mind."

Though LeBron James is still only 34 until Dec. 30, no high-performance athlete in the world has performed more quick sprints, sudden stops, explosive jumps and hard landings over the past 20 years. James has played more than 56,000 minutes in more than 1,400 regular-season and playoff games, and this doesn't include international competition, years in high school and AAU tournaments, during which teenagers routinely play multiple games per day, and his relentless training regimen.

For all of his transcendent attributes as the greatest basketball player of his generation, James' durability over the course of his career might be the most impressive. During his first 15 NBA seasons, he rarely missed time because of injury. But last season, he was out five weeks before the All-Star break because of a strained left groin and shut it down for good in late March as the Lakers faded from postseason contention, with James never fully recovering from the winter injury.

By virtue of playing his final game on March 29, James will enter the 2019-20 season with something he has never enjoyed -- a six-month sabbatical from high-level basketball. After eight consecutive years of enduring his most intense competition of the year between mid-April and mid-June, James' only physiological objective this spring and summer was recovery.

This means James and the rest of us are about to learn the answer to a question that, for 15 years, has been nothing more than a hypothetical:

What does LeBron James with more than half a year of rest look like?

Will all those biomechanical stunts that have been signature features of James' dominance be more potent than ever? Will his capacity for all that sprinting, leaping and force be rejuvenated as he struts his rebuilt body into Lakers training camp Friday? Will his recovery combined with a more calculating load management program produce an athlete whose more selective output at its very best is as potent as any player's in the NBA?

The last time James won a championship, he played in only 16 games over a 57-day period in 2016. The final weeks of the Cavs' season and their march through the Eastern Conference en route to a seven-game series with the Golden State Warriors was hardly a vacation, but anyone who watched James in the 2016 NBA Finals observed an athlete in a rare state of vigor, punctuated by the chase-down block of Andre Iguodala.

It's possible that James' 2019 hiatus will be nothing more than a brief delay of the inevitable. One of the characteristics of age is the unsatisfying results of regeneration. Injuries that used to heal at 100 percent now recover at 94 percent strength. Aches that were once temporary now linger permanently. And where did that lag between second and third gear come from?

But James has rarely been subject to the limits that inhibit other superstars, and his physical exceptionalism is his defining trait. In 2019-20, we could learn exactly how much it distinguishes him.

Will the roster work for or against LeBron?

Chris Herring: The stakes are incredibly high in Los Angeles for multiple reasons. The Lakers traded the farm for Anthony Davis. He'll be a free agent after this season and there's no guarantee he'll stay in purple and gold if things go off the rails. (The Dwight Howard fiasco, in which this exact scenario played out, is still a raw memory for Lakers fans). Beyond that, James is on the downside of his career, even if he's still performing at a level we've never seen for his age.

One element worth watching: How much will James be asked to do going forward? Getting Davis was a huge help. He arguably becomes the most talented teammate James has ever had. But one of the biggest downsides of not landing Kawhi Leonard was losing the possibility of making LeBron's minutes easier on offense as he ages. Even with Davis in tow, James doesn't have an abundance of high-level ball handlers on this roster.

Rajon Rondo has been less aggressive for quite a while now, and he's coming off a season in which he posted a career-low free throw rate of 8.3%. Alex Caruso has had his moments and he's a fan favorite, but he's still something of an unknown, as most of his contributions last season came during the season equivalent of garbage time. And while the Lakers made a handful of noteworthy signings -- Danny Green, Avery Bradley, Quinn Cook, Jared Dudley -- it's fair to raise the question of whether the team again has left itself with a glaring problem.

The Lakers clearly didn't have enough shooting on the roster heading into last season, unsurprisingly finishing second to last in the league in 3-point percentage. Now, Los Angeles might have robbed Peter to pay Paul: The Lakers have the shooting they need, but they lack ballhandling options at a time in James' career where it would seemingly benefit him to play more on the wing instead of having to repeatedly set up plays for himself and Davis.

That Iguodala layup he pinned to the backboard in 2016 happened right after an offensive sequence when James was essentially able to stand off to the side and rest. All-Star teammate Kyrie Irving led the possession from start to finish. Having to do less as a setup man because of Irving's presence made James sharper in key moments during that series. The same might be true of an entire season if James had another solid ball handler to take the pressure off of him.

None of this is to suggest that James and the Lakers won't have an incredible season. But the roster construction surrounding James and AD probably will force LeBron to try to do it all, draining more of his late-career battery than what is ideal.

Can James still flip the switch whenever he wants?

Kevin Pelton: As late as last season's All-Star Game, long after the flaws in the Lakers' roster were evident, I still expected them to make the playoffs for one simple reason: LeBron flipping the switch. After all, I reasoned, James has mastered the art of conserving energy during the regular season for extended playoff runs, during which he has reestablished himself as the NBA's best player. So if the playoffs weren't guaranteed, James would unleash that same terror on the league during the stretch run, right?

The run never came. After beating the Houston Rockets in their first game after the February break, the Lakers dropped five of their next six, including a loss to the rival LA Clippers that effectively ended their playoff hopes. It wasn't for lack of effort on James' part. He played 39.7 minutes per game over that stretch, and wasn't exactly ineffective, averaging 28.3 points, 10.1 assists and 8.7 rebounds.

Box-score numbers aside, this wasn't the kind of dominant LeBron we'd come to expect when the stakes are highest. The Lakers were outscored by 3.8 points per 100 possessions with him on the court in that stretch, according to NBA Advanced Stats, struggling badly at the defensive end. The defining memory of that period was a careless turnover when James threw an inbounds pass off the backboard during a stunning loss to the lowly Phoenix Suns.

There are plenty of reasons to believe that LeBron will be better this season than he was late last winter, including his six months off.

James has a tendency to play much better during his second season in a new setting. His worst campaign with the Miami Heat was his first one, which ended with a meltdown in an NBA Finals loss to the Dallas Mavericks. The same was true of his first regular season back with the Cleveland Cavaliers, with whom James also missed time because of injury before turning it on in the playoffs.

The Lakers' chemistry also was fractured after the team's failed attempt to trade for Anthony Davis before the deadline, which paid off when the deal was completed this June. A roster built around Davis and James should better complement his style of play.

Nonetheless, last season was the first time since James established himself as an MVP-winning megastar that we've failed to see him play like the NBA's best player for any meaningful period of time. Given LeBron's age and the historic mileage he has accumulated since entering the league at age 18, it's fair to wonder whether he's still capable of such heights. As a result, LeBron finds himself in unfamiliar territory entering the 2019-20 campaign: He needs to convince us he's the best player in the league.

The Minnesota Twins on Thursday became the first team in major league history to hit 300 home runs in a season.

And they weren't done there.

No. 300 was a two-run shot by Jonathan Schoop off Detroit Tigers pitcher Jose Cisnero in the seventh inning of the Twins' 10-4 victory. It was Schoop's 23rd homer of the season.

One inning later, catcher Willians Astudillo hit a solo shot to left field for No. 301.

Including the Twins, 13 teams have set franchise records for home runs this season: Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati, the Chicago Cubs, Houston, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee, the New York Mets, the New York Yankees, Oakland, San Diego and Washington.

Arizona and Cleveland are also both on pace to set team marks before the season ends.

Before this year, the record for home runs by a team was 267 from the Yankees last year.

Minnesota won the American League Central title Wednesday. The Twins need just one more victory to become the fourth major league team to reach 100 wins this season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

CINCINNATI -- And this one belongs to Marty Brennaman.

With fans applauding his every mention, the Hall of Fame broadcaster called his final Cincinnati Reds game Thursday, ending a 46-year career that has featured so many big stars and historic moments -- Hank Aaron, the Big Red Machine, Pete Rose -- and more than a few verbal tiffs with fans and players who weren't exactly endeared to his tell-it-like-it-is style.

He went out in style.

Brennaman popped into the press box to shake writers' hands before a game against the Milwaukee Brewers, already showing emotion. He recounted a touching phone call from Joe Girardi as he drove to the ballpark.

"A tough day," Brennaman said. "I've cried three times already."

The Reds billed it as a "Marty Party" and borrowed a favorite phrase from former broadcast partner Joe Nuxhall, declaring that "this one belongs to Marty."

At the end of yet another tough season -- the Reds' sixth straight with a losing record -- the voice that so many Cincinnati fans equate with baseball became the soundtrack to the final home game of not only a season but a career. The Reds distributed commemorative transistor radios so fans in the stands could hear that voice call a Reds game one last time.

Brennaman is more comfortable being heard rather than seen, as is a broadcaster's role.

Not today.

Fans stood and cheered when the mayor declared it Marty Brennaman Day during pregame festivities on the field. Brennaman, 77, then headed for the broadcast booth and the microphone -- his frequent companion for nearly a half-century -- for the same play-by-play call that's as familiar as a first pitch.

He and color commentator Jeff Brantley didn't ignore the focus of the day, but neither did they dwell on it. When Brennaman noted that it felt hotter than the announced 74 degrees at the first pitch, Brantley said: "Could be the stress."

Brennaman then launched into describing each batter the same way he has for decades -- name, stats, how they're trending. When Aristides Aquino homered inside the left-field foul pole in the bottom of the first, Brennaman described it this way: "If it's fair, it's good. And it is, and it is."

Fans were hoping the home team would win so they could hear Brennaman's familiar line after a victory: "And this one belongs to the Reds." The Brewers had won the first two games of Brennaman's final series.

The Reds' voice since 1974, Brennaman intended to quietly retire after the season. He agreed to a farewell season that would allow fans and teams to show their appreciation and celebrate a career with so many calls: Aaron's 714th homer that tied Babe Ruth, three World Series titles and Rose's record-setting hit No. 4,192 among the most memorable.

For one more time, Brennaman was nearly as big as the game itself.

"I first got to hear him when my dad was traded here," said Reds manager David Bell, the son of Buddy. "I was in high school. Listening to those games was the most important thing in my life. It was three hours of escape. He made it really matter."

Young players are dominating baseball like never before, but it takes more than some success on the field to become a star. With that in mind, we asked our Jeff Passan and David Schoenfield to make and grade the cases for 20 2019 breakout players to ultimately decide who graduated to stardom this season.

While the 2019 class climbs the stairs in alphabetical order, wearing their (baseball) caps and gowns, it will be up to Professor Passan and Dean Schoenfield to determine who has earned their degree in superstardom. Will a Class of 2019 diploma be waiting for your favorite player?

Pete Alonso, New York Mets

Who he was in March: The power-hitting first baseman led the minors with 36 home runs in a 2018 season split between Double-A and Triple-A, but the Mets also had Dominic Smith and a glut of veteran infielders who also could play first base if needed (Todd Frazier, Robinson Cano, Jed Lowrie). Alonso had to win the job in spring training.

His 2019 case for stardom: Home runs. Lots of them. He destroyed Cody Bellinger's National League rookie record, reached Mark McGwire's 1987 rookie total of 49 and is chasing down Aaron Judge's rookie record of 52 as he battles for the overall MLB lead.

Professor Passan proclaims: There is a very simple equation. Home runs + New York = Stardom. Pete Alonso hits lots of home runs. Pete Alonso plays in New York. Pete Alonso is a star.

Yordan Alvarez, Houston Astros

Who he was in March: A promising slugger who hit .293 with 20 home runs in 88 games across Double-A and Triple-A in 2018, but with questions about his defense and no immediate path to playing time with the Astros.

His 2019 case for stardom: Well, the American League has the DH rule. Alvarez tore apart Triple-A Round Rock and received a promotion to the majors on June 9. He homered in four of his first five games and has terrorized major league pitchers ever since with one of the highest OPS totals since his recall.

Professor Passan proclaims: Since his June 9 debut, Alvarez has been the best hitter in the American League. Better than Mike Trout. Better than his teammates Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve. The. Best. That's a star.

Tim Anderson, Chicago White Sox

Who he was in March: A toolsy and athletic shortstop with some pop (20 home runs in 2018) and speed (26 steals), but with a .258 career average and .286 OPB through three seasons.

His 2019 case for stardom: He still swings at everything but has a chance to win the AL batting title. If he does, his .258 average would be the lowest a batting champ had entering the season.

Professor Passan proclaims: A batting title is wonderful. A dozen walks in almost 500 plate appearances is frightening. A .399 BABIP is unsustainable. Two outta three, in this case, is bad. But this is Tim Anderson. The bat-flippingest make-baseball-fun ambassador there is. The well-rounded skill set makes it a yes.

Josh Bell, Pittsburgh Pirates

Who he was in March: A heralded prospect coming up through the Pirates system, Bell slugged 26 home runs as a rookie in 2017 but just 12 in 2018. He had a decent .357 OBP, but the lack of power was concerning.

His 2019 case for stardom: Bell spent the offseason working with a private hitting instructor named Joe DeMarco, and the pair overhauled Bell's body position, mechanics and approach. He hit six home runs in April and then .390 with 12 home runs in May, and the big first half earned him an All-Star nod. He has slowed down since but is still at 37 home runs, 116 RBIs and an OPS well north of .900.

Professor Passan proclaims: This is a tough one. Bell was perfectly good his first two full major league seasons. Then he turned into a monster in the first half this year. Since the All-Star break, he has been almost a carbon copy of his first-two-years self, which is decidedly not a star. Wait. Earnest Bell wants a word? Uh. Never mind. He's a star.

Walker Buehler, Los Angeles Dodgers

Who he was in March: The former first-round pick out of Vanderbilt had fully recovered from Tommy John surgery and finished third in the Rookie of the Year balloting in the National League after going 8-5 with a 2.62 ERA. His dominant performance against the Rockies in the NL West tiebreaker game -- one hit in 6⅔ scoreless innings -- culminated a run in which he posted a 1.55 ERA over his final 12 starts. With a fastball that averaged 96.7 mph, a full complement of off-speed pitches and excellent control, he looked like a potential Cy Young contender.

His 2019 case for stardom: He's 13-3 with a 3.15 ERA and 202 strikeouts in 171⅓ innings while issuing just 30 walks. When he's on, he's really on: He has allowed no runs in eight starts and one run in five starts and had games with 16 and 15 punchouts.

Professor Passan proclaims: Last year, after beating the Rockies in Game 163, Buehler was asked if he knew he was going to win. "I won't say 'yes,'" he said, "but yes." It's not just the fastball and strikeouts. Buehler walks and talks like a star too.

Luis Castillo, Cincinnati Reds

Who he was in March: One of the hardest-throwing starting pitchers in the majors, Castillo had a 4.30 ERA in 2018 in his first full season. Was he a one-trick pony or could he back up his high-octane heater with a more refined approach to pitching?

His 2019 case for stardom: Castillo stormed out of the gate with a 1.76 ERA through his first nine starts. He earned his first All-Star selection and is 15-6 with a 3.22 ERA, improving his strikeout rate from 23.3% to 28.9% while also cutting down on his home runs.

Professor Passan proclaims: Castillo since July 1, 2018: 260⅔ innings, 291 strikeouts, 30 home runs allowed, 3.04 ERA -- while pitching in the Great American Band Box. His fastball-changeup combo is a Tyson-prime right hook/right uppercut. Do it for one year? OK. For two? Star.

Mike Clevinger, Cleveland Indians

Who he was in March: That other guy in the Cleveland rotation, the one with the long hair that made him look like he belonged at a skateboard park instead of on a major league mound. He had an under-the-radar breakout season in 2018, going 13-8 with a 3.02 ERA, but that made him just the third-best starter on the team behind Trevor Bauer and Corey Kluber.

His 2019 case for stardom: He missed time early in the season with a back injury and then 10 more days with a sprained ankle, but when he has pitched he has raised his game to another level, going 11-3 with a 2.68 ERA and 149 K's in 107⅓ innings.

Professor Passan proclaims: Psssssst. He was a star last year too. It just takes an extra year for anyone to recognize it when you play in Cleveland.

Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox

Who he was in March: A talented but unproven young hitter. He won a ring with the Red Sox in 2018, but his first full season was a bit of disappointment as he hit just .240/.298/.433. Still, he was just 21, so there was hope for growth.

His 2019 case for stardom: He grew. Devers began the season without a home run in his first 32 games, but then everything suddenly came together and he's hitting over .300 with 50 doubles and 30 home runs. He and teammate Xander Bogaerts became just the 13th and 14th players to reach both figures in one season since 2000.

Professor Passan proclaims: Came up at 20 with a stratospheric start. Returned to earth, struggled and slumped his second season. Put everything together this year and now leads the AL in total bases. That's actually a pretty archetypal star turn -- from wunderkind to learning to fully realized.

Jack Flaherty, St. Louis Cardinals

Who he was in March: Part of the star-studded 2018 rookie class, Flaherty went 8-9 with a 3.34 ERA at age 22, finishing fifth in the Rookie of the Year vote. With his perfect pitcher's build (6-foot-4, 205 pounds) and elite stuff, there were high expectations for his sophomore season.

His 2019 case for stardom: It was a slow start, but he has arguably been the best starter in the majors in the second half with a 1.05 ERA in 12 starts and an opponents batting line of .157/.226/.240. Overall, he's 10-8 with a 3.05 ERA and 206 whiffs in 174⅓ innings.

Professor Passan proclaims: He was sneaky excellent last year. All of this -- especially the brilliant second half -- makes this a no-brainer star turn.

Lucas Giolito, Chicago White Sox

Who he was in March: Once regarded as maybe the top pitching prospect in the game, his first full season in the majors was a disaster with a 6.13 ERA. At least he started 32 times, about the only positive from his 2018 season. His future was cloudy.

His 2019 case for stardom: Maybe the most improved player in the league, Giolito made the All-Star team and finished 14-9 with a 3.41 ERA and in about the same number of innings fanned 103 more batters than in 2018.

Professor Passan proclaims: He has turned in a wonderful 2019. He has a chance to be a workhorse in an era when workhorses simply don't exist. But he's not a star yet. This is nothing against Giolito. It is a bias against pitchers succeeding at the major league level for one season -- especially after one as bad as 2018. He made adjustments this year; the question is whether the adjustments of hitters next year will change the outcome. If not, he'll headline this list.

Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks

Who he was in March: He was a nice player, coming off a nice 2018 season in which he hit .260/.332/.437, and after hitting just eight home runs his first three seasons in the majors, he showed a little pop with 14 home runs and 12 triples. He had moved off shortstop to second base, however, and the Diamondbacks were also going to try him in center field.

His 2019 case for stardom: Wow. The skinny slap-hitting shortstop prospect for the Mariners developed into a rocket-hitting masher, hitting .329 with 32 home runs, all while playing a surprisingly good center field (and filling in at second base as well).

Professor Passan proclaims: An OPS near 1.000 for a 25-year-old who had a huge tool set and finally translated it warrants a yes. Star.*

* pending ball that doesn't fly like it's rocket-fueled.

Jeff McNeil, Mets

Who he was in March: He surprised by hitting .329 in 63 games as a 26-year-old rookie, but the Mets had so much confidence in him that they traded for Robinson Cano and signed Jed Lowrie. Maybe they would try him in the outfield and turn him into a utility guy.

His 2019 case for stardom: If you can hit, the team will find a place for you in the lineup. McNeil has hit .318, but the big surprise has been the 23 home runs on his way to a 5-WAR season. He has started at least 14 games in left field, right field, second base and third base.

Professor Passan proclaims: Buying the bat all day, every day. Seriously, have you ever seen McNeil's actual bat? It looks like a club. It has no knob and a ridiculously thick handle. It's practically a medieval weapon. In other words, McNeil would have been a star in the Byzantine army too.

Chris Paddack, San Diego Padres

Who he was in March: Stolen from the Marlins for Fernando Rodney in 2016, Paddack returned from Tommy John surgery to make 17 starts in the minors in 2018 with a 2.10 ERA -- and just eight walks in 90 innings. The Padres gave him a shot at making the rotation.

His 2019 case for stardom: He did, start off with a sizzling April and finishing 9-7 with a 3.33 ERA over 26 starts, including an impressive 150 strikeouts to just 31 walks.

Professor Passan proclaims: The Giolito Corollary. One major league season of excellent pitching does not a star make. Next year's list could have a pretty sweet rotation, though.

Marcus Semien, Oakland Athletics

Who he was in March: That guy who made all those errors that one season? He was a nice player and his fielding had improved, but he had never posted an OPS+ above league average.

His 2019 case for stardom: He's hit more than 30 home runs, he's played good D and he's played every game for the A's. His 7.4 Baseball Reference WAR is the second highest for a shortstop this decade (Francisco Lindor had 7.9 in 2018).

Professor Passan proclaims: Regardless of what he does with his bat, Semien is star-adjacent on account of his glove alone. So grain-of-salt this as you may: It would be nice to see him do what he's doing again. Career .403 sluggers tend not to raise the mark by more than 100 points in a season. He has gotten better, but -- and this goes for Marte, McNeil and others -- how much of that is improvement and how much of that is the ball?

Mike Soroka, Atlanta Braves

Who he was in March: Part of the Braves' plethora of young pitching prospects, Soroka made five starts for the Braves in 2018 as a 20-year-old but missed the final three months with a shoulder strain and inflammation.

His 2019 case for stardom: He's not just a Rookie of the Year candidate but a Cy Young candidate, with a 2.60 ERA and the poise and feel for pitching of a 22-year vet, not a 22-year-old kid from Calgary.

Professor Passan proclaims: Ibid. Giolito/Paddack.

Eugenio Suarez, Cincinnati Reds

Who he was in March: He had slugged 60 home runs over the past two seasons and received an All-Star berth in 2018, but as a third baseman on a bad team in a league that featured Nolan Arenado, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rendon and Justin Turner at the position, he was still relatively anonymous.

His 2019 case for stardom: Now he's battling Pete Alonso for the MLB lead in home runs, and his unbelievable second half gives him a shot at breaking George Foster's franchise record of 52 home runs.

Professor Passan proclaims: In 2014, the Detroit Tigers needed a starting pitcher. They dealt for veteran Alfredo Simon, who threw 187 innings of 5.05 ERA ball worth minus-0.5 WAR. The return? A rookie named Eugenio Suarez, who, five years later, is most certainly a star, having hit like one for two years running.

Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres

Who he was in March: The consensus No. 2 prospect in the game behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr. -- though No. 1 on Keith Law's preseason list -- he hadn't played above Double-A and was just 20 years old, but the Padres gave him a chance to win the shortstop job in spring training.

His 2019 case for stardom: He broke camp with the Padres -- screw service time -- and soared past Vlad with a .317/.379/.590 line and some spectacular plays in the field before a stress reaction in his back ended his season in August.

Professor Passan proclaims: Everything about him, from the bat to the glove to the arm to the slide to the look, screams star. If we were ranking this list instead of going alphabetically, he'd be No. 1.

Gleyber Torres, New York Yankees

Who he was in March: He made the All-Star team and finished third in the American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2018 after hitting .271 with 24 home runs.

His 2019 case for stardom: Still just 22, he's about to become the first Yankees middle infielder to hit 40 home runs (Alfonso Soriano hit 39 in 2002). He's done that while playing a solid shortstop when Didi Gregorius was injured and then moving back to second base.

Professor Passan proclaims: He's the future Yankees shortstop and on the cusp of 40 home runs in his age-22 season a year after a Rookie of the Year-quality season. Yes. That is a star.

Kirby Yates, San Diego Padres

Who he was in March: A 32-year-old journeyman reliever who had been let go at various points in his career by the Red Sox, Rays, Indians, Yankees and Angels. The Padres claimed him off waivers in 2017 and he had a 2.14 ERA with 12 saves in 2018. Not that anybody outside of San Diego had noticed.

His 2019 case for stardom: In a year when it feels like every closer has struggled, Yates has been the one constant with a 1.21 ERA and an MLB-leading 41 saves.

Professor Passan proclaims: Just because he's 32 and well-traveled doesn't preclude Yates from being recognized for what he has become: the best reliever of 2019 and a star.

And there you have it, the members of the Class of 2019 are ... Pete Alonso, Yordan Alvarez, Tim Anderson, Josh Bell (thanks to Mr. Bell), Walker Buehler, Luis Castillo, Mike Clevinger, Rafael Devers, Jack Flaherty, Ketel Marte, Jeff McNeil, Eugenio Suarez, Fernando Tatis Jr., Gleyber Torres, Kirby Yates. Better luck next year to all who just missed graduating this time.

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British Athletics performance director explains background to harsh email sent to discus thrower Lally

Neil Black stands by his decision to turn down invitations from the IAAF for more British athletes to compete at the IAAF World Championships in Doha and the British Athletics performance director adds there is no bad blood between himself and discus thrower Jade Lally.

Lally is one of half a dozen British athletes who had IAAF invitations rejected by British Athletics and she posted part of a seemingly insensitive email written to her by Black on Instagram last week (see below).

Black’s email said Lally was “very unlikely to medal in Doha or Tokyo” but he told the media on Thursday in Doha that it was just part of a much longer and balanced message that contained a number of positive points.

Lally’s post drew uproar from athletics fans but Black explains: “The section that Jade put out there was one small paragraph. That was the factual paragraph within a broader email, which started with pleasantries and ‘congratulations on’ (having a baby this summer) and went on to discuss a number of other things. Jade replied to my email thanking me for it and we had quite a nice little chat.”

Black says he has known Lally for years, gets on with her well and would probably greet her “with a hug” if he saw her now. The performance director adds that development opportunities for athletes are restricted to non-global events like the European Championships, whereas World Championships and Olympics were more focused on medals.

Does he feel it is inappropriate to tell an athlete they are not good enough to win a medal at a major championships? “No,” he says matter-of-factly. “It’s a performance sport.”

He continues: “Nothing in the email suggested we were giving up on any of the athletes. All of the emails said, in some variation, ‘we don’t have a crystal ball but all the information that I’ve got at this point suggests to me that you are unlikely to win a medal in Doha and/or Tokyo’.

“All of the emails went on to say, but ‘positive, positive, positive’. We have to stick to the policy as it’s written.”

Shot putter Amelia Strickler and steeplechaser Phil Norman were among others who had IAAF invitations turned down by British Athletics.

On the eve of the biggest event of 2019, Black also talked about Laura Muir’s fitness after being hampered by a calf injury this summer. The performance director said Muir was usually in good shape all year around and did not need much racing to get race fit.

“Everything suggests that she’s in good shape, progressing towards great shape,” he added.

The British team generally, too, is ready for battle and Black says the preparation period has been smooth and trouble free. “It’s been the best preparation that we’ve had as a team,” he says.

IAAF president believes controversies surrounding world championships offer the chance to lead and learn

Sebastian Coe insists the more controversial aspects surrounding the 17th IAAF World Championships in Doha offer an opportunity to learn and the chance to showcase difficult issues.

During a pre-event press conference, the governing body’s president and local organising chief Dahlan Al Hamad fielded questions on difficult subjects which ranged from reported poor ticket sales to Qatar’s treatment of migrant workers and the safety of the marathon runners and race walkers who will tackle soaring temperatures and humidity.

Al Hamad reported that, as of two days ago, there had been 5000 tickets left for Friday evening’s opening session and was insistent that organisers were happy with sales.

As for the some of the more controversial concerns raised by the choice of host venue, and responding to a recent Amnesty International report which outlined the apparent exploitation of migrant workers in Qatar, Coe said: “Sport is a really good opportunity to showcase and to challenge some of those issues.

“I do encourage those organisations (such as Amnesty International) to work closely with sport – we can actually be quite a powerful alliance.”

He added: “No society is poorer for having sport enshrined in it. We’ve seen time and time again in the history of sport and particularly athletics that it doesn’t just sit there mirroring trends, it actually sets trends.

“Time and time again, athletics itself has changed all sorts of conventions and has often been at the infancy of change.

“So I’m really happy to be here and I’m very happy that the sport can be used in that way.”

Coe added that conditions for the women’s marathon, which starts at 11.59pm on Friday, are ‘permanently’ under review but also insisted that the hot and humid conditions – the mercury will be in the low 30s around that time – offer the opportunity to better understand how athletes can deal with extreme weather.

“We are monitoring this very closely,” he said. “The overwhelming thrust of this is the welfare of the athletes.

“I was pleased that, having spoken to so many of the delegations that are here, that their distance and endurance athletes who are preparing for the race walks and the marathons are actually training pretty comfortably on the streets. I have spoken to some of those athletes as well.

“This has given us the opportunity – and you don’t want to waste opportunities like this – for our medical teams and our health and science teams to actually understand a great deal more about the management of heat for athletes going forward.

“We have given the opportunity for athletes, voluntarily, to ingest a tablet which has a thermometer in it and it will allow us to monitor how they’re dealing with the temperatures, heat and humidity.

“I’m really pleased that we’re going to be able to use these conditions to understand a bit more about how, in future, we really can take our sport into areas of climatic challenge but at the same time fulfilling the capacity building that athletics needs.”

Coe was in optimistic mood as the start of competition draws closer and is particularly enthused by the current crop of athletes who are about to showcase their talent.

“I can’t actually remember a time in the sport when I’ve been so optimistic and excited about a young group of athletes coming through,” he said.

“If you look at our top ten lists across every discipline and in every continent, about a quarter are under the age of 23. I’m not sure we’ve had those metrics for some time so the sport is in great shape.

“We have some incredibly talented young athletes. They’ve hit the streets running in the last year and this will be a really good opportunity for them to understand a great deal more about championships racing en route to the Olympics Games next year.

“I think, over the coming days, that we are going to witness some outstanding performances.”

Doha 2019 facts

• 208 nations participating + neutral athletes and a refugee team will also be competing
• 1972 athletes entered: 1054 men, 918 women
• 37 of the 44 individual gold medal winners from London 2017 will defend their titles
• All 30 Diamond League champions are competing
• Allyson Felix, the most decorated athlete in IAAF World Championships history, will have the chance to add to her tally of 16 when she competes in the 4x400m relay
• At 49, the oldest competitor will be Spain’s Jesus Angel Garcia, who is contesting the 50km race walk
• The championships will be broadcasting to more that 160 territories with a combined audience of just over a billion people