August’s AL Pitcher of the Month was the Blue Jays’ Bowden Francis. If you’ve never heard of him, you’re not alone. Despite that lack of notoriety, Francis, whose career totals prior to August included just 81⅓ IP and four starts, has turned in two of the more remarkable months of pitching of the modern era. More after the jump.
Continue readingOne third of the way into the current season and it is the pitchers who have held the upper hand, with OPS declining by over 4% from the same period a year ago. Of course, one year ago everyone was trying to adjust to the new timing rules, and it was the batters who evidently had the easier time doing so, pushing up OPS for the first third of the 2023 season by over 4% from the same period the year before. More on offensive trends and adjustments to rule changes are after the jump.
Continue readingPitchers tend to hold the upper hand to start the season, with batters warming up with the weather. But, some batters buck that trend and are hot to start the season, including some who do so on a regular basis. So, who are April’s heroes? Spoiler alert: they’re also the heroes in the other months of the season. More after the jump.
Continue readingOn April 23rd this season, Clayton Kershaw pitched 6 innings for the win against the Mets. And, on June 14th, Jose Berrios went 7⅔ against the Orioles and also collected the W. What do these two games have in common? Find out after the jump.
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One year after we “all rose” for Aaron Judge‘s successful quest for the AL single-season home run record, Luis Arraez (pronounced ah-RISE, per Baseball-Reference) is giving us another reason to get to our feet, as he chases one of baseball’s holiest grails, maintaining a .400 batting average as the season approaches its halfway point. More after the jump.
Continue readingThe major leagues have instituted a number of rule changes this season with the objectives of speeding up the game and increasing offense. A quarter of the way into the season, it is abundantly evident that those objectives are being met, with games proceeding at a pace not seen since the 1980s, and offensive results providing some of the largest ever year-over-year increases for many metrics. More after the jump.
Continue readingThe hottest team out of the gate in the new season are the Tampa Bay Rays. How hot? Find out after the jump.
Continue readingThis past season, Braves’ right-hander Kyle Wright won 20 games for the first time. His majors-leading total of 21 wins came in his 5th major league season, though it was really Wright’s first opportunity to win 20 games as he did not appear in more than 8 games in any of his four preceding seasons. In winning 20 games in his first opportunity to do so, Wright became the 87th such pitcher since 1901 and the second in as many seasons, after Julio Urias recorded the same feat in 2021. More after the jump.
Continue readingAfter starting on an historic winning pace, the Bombers have fallen on hard times over the past six weeks. After a blistering 61-24 pace to start the season, the Yankees have gone 13-24 since to see their 15 game lead on July 9th shrink to just 8 games as of this writing. Which other teams have posted similar seasons? Find out after the jump.
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The Seattle Mariners are baseball’s hottest team at the All-Star break, and their rookie center-fielder Julio Rodriguez (“J-Rod” to his hometown fans) is a big reason why. More on Rodriguez and the Mariners after the jump.
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