Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss the highlights of the MLB at Rickwood Field game and broadcast, Mike Trout’s slow return from knee surgery, Matt Waldron’s sustained success, Royce Lewis’s incredible performance, the challenge system’s growing influence over ABS, Barry Bonds as a baseball ambassador, Elly De La Cruz’s stolen-base slump, the Yankees-Orioles AL East…
Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports It’s been five weeks since Major League Baseball unveiled its first trove of bat tracking data. In that time, we’ve learned that Giancarlo Stanton swings hard, Luis Arraez swings quickly, and Juan Soto is a god who walks among us unbound by the irksome laws of physics and physiology. We’ve…
Things aren’t particularly bright in Anaheim right now, but even amidst the Angels’ struggles, some of the team’s young players are thriving. One of those players is Zach Neto, who in his sophomore campaign looks like an improved version of himself at the plate. His full-season wRC+ is up to 107, a mark that has…
Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports These are the saddest of possible words,Bryant to Báez to Rizzo.Seeing projected WAR cut into thirds,Bryant to Báez to Rizzo.Quickly declining in other team’s hats,by plate discipline or by powerless bats,concussions and sore backs turn comebacks to splats,Bryant to Báez to Rizzo. The 2016 season was one of the greatest in…
Welcome to another edition of Five Things I Liked (Or Didn’t Like) this week. I’m not sure if this is by design or simply a scheduling coincidence, but this week was full of compelling matchups between current rivals. The Cubs and Cardinals squared off. So did the Yankees and Orioles. The Guardians and Mariners aren’t…
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. The most encouraging thing about the Reds entering spring training was their depth. Noelvi Marte, Jeimer Candelario, Jonathan India, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Elly De La Cruz, and…
(Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) The 20-55 Chicago White Sox are possibly the worst team in MLB. They are not going anywhere and won’t be competitive for a while. On the other hand, the 36-38 Pittsburgh Pirates are finally starting to see the light after years of mediocrity. They are far from perfect, but…
Ben Lindbergh, Rany Jazayerli, and Neil Paine discuss the death of Willie Mays, Mays as the last legendary link to an earlier era, the statistical cases for Mays as the greatest all-around player and greatest player, period in major league history, and (36:45) baseball’s new greatest living player, plus (46:02) banter about Kansas courting the…
Willie Mays was considered by many as the gold standard of baseball. Whether he was the greatest player of all time or simply one of the best is a topic of debate. However, it is widely accepted that Mays was the greatest all-around player the game has ever seen, excelling at the plate, on the…
Athletes like Elly De La Cruz can skew our perception of reality. His powerful arm makes most shortstops look like they throw with a wet noodle. His 99th-percentile sprint speed makes most other baserunners look like they’re running on sand. His tall frame, which our website somehow lists at 6-foot-2, makes that guy on Hinge…
