[ad_1] Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports At this time last year, the Phillies faced a good deal of long-term uncertainty about their rotation. Aaron Nola was a free agent after the season, Zack Wheeler would follow a year later, and the only pitcher with a guaranteed contract past the 2024 season was Taijuan Walker. This…
[ad_1] Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports If you’ve been in a ballpark a half hour or so before game time, you’ve probably noticed the starting pitchers playing catch with a teammate or a coach in the outfield. You’ve likely also observed them subsequently going into their respective bullpens to warm up, readying themselves to face hitters…
[ad_1] Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports We’re back at it again with another batch of baseball lingo. As usual, I encourage you to go check out previous installments of this series to catch up on what you missed or familiarize yourself with the premise of these primers. You can find each of them by clicking on…
[ad_1] Max Fried hadn’t yet established himself when first interviewed for FanGraphs in April 2018. Despite being drafted highly, he had limited big league experience. Fast forward to today, Fried is considered one of the best pitchers in baseball. He has an impressive win-loss record and strong pitching stats since 2019. Additionally, in 2021, he…
[ad_1] Baseball Journalism The Fastball Debate in Baseball Every season has its share of articles detailing the league-wide decline in fastball usage, and 2024 is no exception. This time around, the spotlight has been on the Red Sox, who have seemingly crafted an elite rotation based on a delightfully succinct philosophy: Spin go brrrr. Indeed,…
[ad_1] (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) During the offseason, the Milwaukee Brewers extended center fielder Jackson Chourio, a top-five prospect in baseball, and gave him the keys to the middle of their outfield. Chourio is blessed with natural athleticism, power, and speed, but his hit tool might not be ready to succeed against MLB pitching…
[ad_1] (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) It took some time, but the Minnesota Twins have caught up to the Cleveland Guardians at the top of the AL Central standings. Minnesota was actually on top at one point this past weekend, but Cleveland is now up half a game in first place. In any case,…
[ad_1] Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports The best pitching prospect in baseball, 21-year-old Pittsburgh Pirates righty Paul Skenes, is slated to be called up tomorrow to make his major league debut against the Cubs. The 6-foot-6 leviathan has a 0.99 ERA in seven Triple-A starts this year and has struck out 42.9% of the hitters he’s…
[ad_1] Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports In my research on JP Sears’ fastball command for my blog Pitch Plots, I discovered a crucial question: Why does a pitch end up where it does? I found that release trajectory is the key variable in determining the location of a pitch. By analyzing release angles along with release…
[ad_1] (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) The New York Mets traded Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer last year. This year, they lost Kodai Senga, their de facto ace, for the first two months of the season with a shoulder issue. Their bullpen has also suffered the rigors of trades and injuries. Yet despite all that, they…
