Category: Baseball
Phillies’ Standout Player Set to Compete in the Home Run Derby
(Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images) The MLB All-Star Game will be played in Arlington, Texas, this year, with Globe Life Field the place where some of the best players in the world will showcase their talents for the world to enjoy on July 16. The 2024 Home Run Derby will take place one day before…
Angels Add Potential Trade Asset to Injured List
(Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images) The Los Angeles Angels are one of the worst teams in the American League, and, as a result, they are expected to be sellers with the trade deadline approaching at the end of the month. One of the players they could flip to get a nice package of prospects in…
Analyzing Yandy Díaz’s Hitting Performance: A FanGraphs Baseball Report
This is a bounce-back season for Yandy Díaz, and not in a good way. After two straight seasons with a wRC+ above 145, the Rays first baseman is at 106 so far in 2024. When Jay Jaffe checked in on him on June 13, Díaz had just climbed out of a hole. Through May 10,…
Brewers Acquire Aaron Civale to Bolster Starting Rotation
Last summer, I wrote about how Aaron Civale “King Ralph-ed” his way into an exciting postseason race. The Rays entered the 2023 season with five playoff-caliber starting pitchers at the top of their depth chart and a star pitching prospect waiting in the wings. Yet after several major elbow injuries, they were forced to send…
Red Sox Must Shift Focus to Turn Season Around
David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports The 2020s have been a quiet time for the Boston Red Sox. Since winning the 2018 World Series, their fourth in a 15-year period, Boston hasn’t looked much like one of the titans, ready to throw down with the Yankees or Astros in brutal warfare for baseball supremacy. Instead, as…
Interview with Spencer Horwitz on His Approach to Hitting in Baseball
Spencer Horwitz is hoping to show that what he did in the minors can be replicated in the majors, and so far, he’s off to a strong start. Displaying what my colleagues Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin called “a patient, contact-driven approach at the plate,” the lefty-hitting Blue Jays utilityman has slashed .310/.430/.479 with an…
Preview of National League Trade Deadline: Top Players to Watch
Welcome back to Top of the Order, where every Tuesday and Friday I’ll be starting your baseball day with some news, notes, and thoughts about the game we love. With less than four weeks to go until the July 30 trade deadline, now’s a great time to start taking a lay of the land and…
Tampa Bay Rays’ Top 49 Up-and-Coming Players
Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports Below is an analysis of the prospects in the farm system of the Tampa Bay Rays. Scouting reports were compiled with information provided by industry sources as well as our own observations. This is the fourth year we’re delineating between two anticipated relief roles, the abbreviations for which you’ll see in…
Episode 2186 of Effectively Wild: José, Can You Be the Savior?
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss Phillies reliever José Ruiz approaching Ryan Webb’s record for most games finished without a save, Aaron Judge’s Hall of Fame potential, the Mariners’ .540 winning percentage as predicted by Jerry Dipoto, Dallas Keuchel’s return to the majors, the surprising influence of the White Sox on the trade deadline, and…
Shohei Ohtani explains decision to skip Home Run Derby
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) There is no brighter star in the MLB universe than Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Despite ranking second in the majors with 27 home runs, Ohtani will not be present for one of the All-Star Game’s most prominent features. There is little in sports quite like seeing the…