Category: Baseball
MLB Executives Impressed by Shota Imanaga’s Performance as Top Prospect
(Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) Signing a free agent in MLB requires a lot of thought, effort, and time; not to mention financial resources. Teams have to think about the odds of a specific free agent performing well on their squad, not just about his past track record. That makes the whole process tricky….
Houston Astros General Manager Squashes Trade Deadline Possibility
(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) The Houston Astros have been one of the most disappointing teams in baseball if we look at their win-loss record. With a 12-22 record and two consecutive losses (not to mention a mediocre 5-5 record in their last 10), they have been bad to open the year, plain and simple….
Twins’ Resurgence Correlates with Star Player’s Comeback, MLB Insiders Report
(Photo by David Berding/Getty Images) The Minnesota Twins are one of the hottest teams in baseball. After a sluggish start to the season, the Twins have won 13 of their last 14 games to take their record to a steady 20-14. The start of that impressive run was on April 22, a victory against the…
Shohei Ohtani Surpasses Babe Ruth in Spectacular Fashion
(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) In many regards, it’s impossible to compare current Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani with players whose careers took place about 100 years ago. This is why every comparison between Ohtani and Babe Ruth is tricky and not always fair. For the sake of keeping the argument alive, however, let’s…
Retired World Series Winner Accomplishes Significant Achievement
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) There are few, if any, accomplishments one can achieve in an athletic career better than to reach the pinnacle of your sport, and for a baseball player, that’s winning a World Series. For one former World Series champion, the road didn’t stop there, and he recently picked up another…
: The Guardians Suffer a Loss as Steven Kwan’s Hot Bat Cools off
Steven Kwan has been instrumental in helping the Guardians climb to the top of the AL Central and compile the league’s second-best record (23-12) and largest division lead (2.5 games). Unfortunately, the 26-year-old left fielder won’t be around to help them for awhile due to a hamstring strain, though if there’s a silver lining, the…
April 29–May 5 FanGraphs MLB Power Rankings
There were several exciting matchups last week in baseball, such as Dodgers-Braves, Brewers-Cubs, and Orioles-Yankees, with the winners setting the stage for potentially thrilling playoff races ahead. This season, we have made changes to our power rankings. The previous model did not adequately adapt to teams’ performance fluctuations throughout the season, putting too much emphasis…
Analyzing the Latest Trends in Pitcher Usage: A Comprehensive Look
Last week, I looked into the strange fact that starter usage hasn’t declined as precipitously as it first seemed over the past half decade. It’s downright strange that pitchers are throwing nearly as many pitches per start as they did in 2019 because it sure doesn’t feel that way. It’s even stranger that the average…
Juan Soto: The Rising Star of Major League Baseball
Juan Soto is a tricky player for me to write about, because the numbers speak for themselves — no literary flourish needed. Trying to get cute while writing about a guy performing miracles isn’t baseball blogging, it’s the Gospel of John. Nevertheless, Soto is operating on such a level (he’s hitting .316/.421/.559 through the weekend…
Dodgers Maintain Top Spot in Key Rankings as May Ramps Up
(Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images) Every week, MLB’s official Twitter account updates its team power rankings. It’s a nice way to see which teams are soaring and living up to their potential, which ones are exceeding expectations, and which ones are disappointing. This week, the league has the Los Angeles Dodgers at the top of…