(Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) To be the best, you have to prepare like the best. That’s certainly what Pittsburgh Pirates rising star Paul Skenes has been doing. After 27 innings in the majors, the former No. 1 overall draft pick in 2023 is sporting a cool 3.00 ERA, with six walks and 38 strikeouts….
(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images) The Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets are living different realities at the moment. The former boasts the best record in MLB with 44 wins against just 19 losses: only the New York Yankees can match that as of Thursday afternoon. Philadelphia is full of star-level position players…
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) Before the start of the season, if you were asked to name the three best and most prominent pitchers two months into the campaign, you probably would have mentioned the likes of Blake Snell, Gerrit Cole, Kevin Gausman, and other proven starters. But Gausman has been bad, Cole has been…
(Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani can touch 100, 101 mph as a pitcher when healthy. The Dodgers still haven’t been able to enjoy that version of Ohtani, since he injured his elbow last year and probably won’t pitch this year. However, he was able to experience what is…
Anyone who saw the lineup that the Blue Jays fielded on Sunday against the Pirates was treated to a relatively unfamiliar sight: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. starting at third base for the first time since his 2019 rookie season, and playing the position in a regular season game for the first time since ’22. Designed to…
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports I’ve got good news for you, Padres fans. Manny Machado is hitting the ball as hard as nearly anyone in baseball*. Seriously! Take a look at this leaderboard: Highest Average Exit Velocity*, 2024 Yeah! There’s our guy, fourth in the majors, absolutely pummeling the ball. No Aaron Judge on this list….
Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports For a few years now, I’ve been waiting for Salvador Perez to break down. There are three reasons for this. First, he’s at the intersection of two kinds of hitter who are at risk of precipitous decline: Big dudes who hit for a lot of power but don’t walk much and…
Joe Nicholson and Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports Season one of One Tree Hill is a perfect season of television, and I will not be entertaining arguments to the contrary. In it we meet Nathan and Lucas Scott, the sons of hometown basketball hero, Dan Scott, who runs a local car dealership. Nathan was raised in…
Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports Below is an analysis of the prospects in the farm system of the Miami Marlins. Scouting reports were compiled with information provided by industry sources as well as my own observations. This is the fourth year we’re delineating between two anticipated relief roles, the abbreviations for which you’ll see in the…
(Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images) The New York Mets haven’t gotten the production they expect from a hitter of Jeff McNeil’s caliber. McNeil is a two-time All-Star, a former batting champion (2022), and Silver Slugger award winner (2022), so to see him struggle to the tune of showing a .227 batting average is shocking, to…
