Spring training

Spring training, also called spring camp,^[1][2][3] is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for the roster and position spots, and it gives established players practice time prior to competitive play. Spring training has always attracted fan attention, drawing crowds who travel to the warm climates (MLB goes to Arizona and Florida while the KBO, NPB, and CPBL go to Okinawa, Kyushu, Australia, and Taiwan) to enjoy the weather and watch their favorite teams play.

In modern MLB training, teams that train in Florida will play other Florida-training teams in their exhibition games, regardless of regular-season league affiliations. Likewise, Arizona-training teams will play other Arizona teams. This arrangement commenced long before either state received MLB franchises of their own, and thus at the time were widely considered "neutral" sites for preseason MLB play. Today, all MLB teams (including those permanently based in Arizona and Florida) each own or hold a long-term lease for a spring training ballpark distinct from their regular stadium. These facilities are typically comparable to the AAA-caliber ballparks of Minor League Baseball.

Sometimes, teams will finish the preseason with games in their home ballpark (often against local opposition from the opposite league) although with the introduction of interleague play this has become less common. Over time, the Florida and Arizona preseason circuits were informally nicknamed the Grapefruit League and Cactus League, respectively, after plants typical of the respective states. Both names are now trademarked by MLB.

In the case of the Asian Leagues, teams tend to follow a similar logic, but those teams more commonly will temporarily travel to play in another team's region during their spring camp, also, most still usually finish the pre-season in their home stadiums right before the season.

Spring training typically starts in February and continues until just before Opening Day of the regular season, which falls in late March or the first week of April. In some years, teams not scheduled to play on Opening Day will play spring training games that day. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training first because pitchers benefit from a longer training period. A few days later, position players arrive and team practice begins. Exhibition games, also called Open Games in the NPB, usually begin in late February.