As the calendar flipped from May to June, the Philadelphia Phillies looked absolutely dead in the water. Despite boasting MLB’s fourth-highest payroll and a World Series-pedigreed manager in Joe Girardi, Philadelphia was 21-29 on June 1, eight games under .500 and 12½ games back in the National League East. In a recurring problem, its bullpen […]
The reshaping of baseball this century has pushed more than a few charming and once-common archetypes to the periphery: the slap-hitting infielder, the tinkering top-step manager and, most lamented of all, the workhorse ace. Time was, you could watch Bob Gibson, Roger Clemens or Clayton Kershaw go their eight-plus innings every five days, ignoring pitch […]
All throughout last season and into this spring, we raved about the Toronto Blue Jays’ World Series potential — and their marquee names were a big reason why. With a lineup led by the slugging trio of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette and George Springer, a rotation featuring former Cy Young candidates Hyun Jin Ryu […]
If home run numbers are chief among baseball’s vital signs, you can understand why onlookers are worried about the game early this season. After an unprecedented five-year power surge, MLB-wide homers per game are down by more than 20 percent from last season and by more than 30 percent from their all-time high in 2019. […]