Sport

Why won’t anyone pitch to Yasmani Grandal?

In 2004, the most feared hitter in baseball was Barry Bonds. This mammoth at the plate hit .362 that season and reached base at an incredible .609 clip. That’s a difference of .247, one of the largest ever recorded. In 2021, Yasmani Grandal is hitting .121 with an on-base percentage of .372 — a .251 […]

Sport

Ronald Acuña has transformed into Superman

The best player in baseball resides in Atlanta. This was always something of the forecast for Ronald Acuña Jr. when he came up through the Braves system. It just wasn’t believed his rise to the top would be quite so ruthlessly achieved. Read more…

Sport

Moving back the mound, and other rules changes we can get behind

With MLB taking over Minor League Baseball, and apparently hitting small towns worse than the death of American manufacturing, one small benefit is MLB’s newfound ability to experiment with new rules in the lower leagues it now controls. It gives the big leagues a lab, as it were, to test the effects of whatever Dr.… […]

Sport

Every scuff you take, every smudge you make, MLB will be watching you

It’s been the dirty little secret in baseball for years. Pitchers were doing something to baseballs to increase spin, which either helped with velocity or movement or both. This has been a factor in the far bigger problem than shifts for baseball, i.e. the inability for anyone to make regular contact against the devil… Read […]

Sport

Swing and a miss … and a welt … as Yanks’ Darren O’Day gets a K on a HBP

Darren O’Day has been in the major leagues since 2008, he was an All-Star in 2015, and he’s been to the postseason with Texas, Baltimore, and Atlanta. The well-traveled and well-decorated righty reliever signed with the Yankees this offseason, and his role in the New York bullpen is clear. Read more…