On Monday afternoon, across his seven innings of shutout work against the Cleveland Guardians in Game 2 of the ALDS, Tarik Skubal threw five pitches that moved to his glove side. His other 87 pitches — fastballs, sinkers, and changeups — went the other direction. Here’s what that looked like on a pitch movement plot:…
On Tuesday afternoon, Josh Hader of the Houston Astros took the mound at the start of the ninth inning against the Detroit Tigers in the first game of their three-game Wild Card series. At this point, the Astros were losing 3-0. Hader allowed a double to Riley Greene but retired the next three batters without…
Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports When Michael King’s season got off to a slow start, it was pretty easy to find the things that were going wrong. The walks, the homers, the short outings: I wouldn’t blame an analyst for doubting him. Oh, wait, that was me doubting King? Well that’s awkward, because he’s been exceptional…
A more-consistent arm slot related to a move back to the third base side of the rubber has contributed to Cole Ragans’s success this season. The raw stuff was obviously already there. As Ben Clemens wrote back in March, the Kansas City Royals left-hander “looks like an absolute terror on the mound.” My colleague went…
Ben Lindbergh talks to Sam Miller of Pebble Hunting about the increase in IL stints at the All-Star break and Sam’s obsession with the evolving strategy of first-and-third situations. Then (41:29) Ben talks to Iowa state representative and Sioux City Explorers pitcher J.D. Scholten about his incredible baseball comeback at age 44, his baseball background,…
Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports On Saturday at Citi Field, Max Fried was unhittable. For seven innings, the 30-year-old lefty baffled the Mets, surviving a handful of hard-hit balls, including two that would have been home runs in several other ballparks. But because he walked three batters, went to a three-ball count against five others, and…
Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports Among the crowd of high-end starting pitchers to sign with new teams over the offseason, perhaps none had wider error bars surrounding his projection than Shota Imanaga. An NPB star for the past half-decade, Imanaga had a track record of success but also many questions about how his skills would translate…
(Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) In the offseason, the Chicago Cubs signed Japanese left-hander Shota Imanaga to a four-year, $53 million deal that could be a five-year, $80 million pact if a club option is picked up. Several weeks prior to that, the Los Angeles Dodgers inked Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a 12-year, $325 million contract….
(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) The San Francisco Giants have been forced to place left-handed starter Blake Snell on the 15-day injured list with a left adductor strain. There is a chance he needs more than the 15 days on the shelf, given the place and the nature of the ailment. One has to think…
