Latest blog entries about MLB
Howdy everyone! The Mariners certainly uh….played a spring training game yesterday, tying the Royals 8-8. It’s still that period of Cactus League play where almost literally nothing that happens matters and only like 30% (don’t quote me on that) of at-bats taken or pitches thrown are by people who will meaningfully contribute to the MLB […]
The list of position players to make the majors in the Yankees’ organization since Aaron Judge’s 2017 rookie campaign that have made such a great impact right out the gate is small. Miguel Andujar was fantastic in 2018, but that fizzled out when he tried to play through a labrum tear in 2019. Gleyber Torres […]
The phrase ‘hope springs eternal’ was first published in 1732 by Alexander Pope in his poem “An Essay on Man”; more than one hundred years before the New York Knickerbockers played in the first professional baseball game in 1846. But in my mind, this phrase always comes to mind as major league baseball teams take […]
The Cardinals are tanking. Oh, they can deny it all they want and claim it’s a “rebuild that’s not a rebuild” like a certain team we know did, but this is full-out tanking. It’s not surprising, given that they have a new executive in charge in Chaim Bloom, their new President of Baseball Operations who […]
MJ Melendez, once upon a time, was a top prospect in the game of baseball. The now 27 year old was a 2017 second round pick (52nd overall) by the Kansas City Royals out of high school, and ascended through the minor leagues rather quickly. Originally a catcher, Melendez reached High-A ball in 2019 before […]
Defensive tackle has been one of the pillars of Mizzou’s excellent defense in recent years, bolstered by future NFL draft pick Chris McClellan. It is also one of the biggest question marks heading into 2026. The Tigers lost their top two contributors and starters on the interior without obvious like-for-like replacements waiting in the wings. […]
Even the most optimistic of Louisville hoops fanatics understand the Cardinals have fallen short of expectations. Thus, as they say in support group settings, said expectations unrealized have led to resentments. Thereby, despite a 20-8 record and a fairly firm grasp of an invite to the Dance, the natives are restless. Not without some justification. […]
We continue our trip throughout the diamond with a stop at the hot corner. Officially, the Astros are likely to have three players on the final 26 man roster that can play third base. However, we profiled Isaac Paredes at first base since he is likely to get more time there and Nick Allen will […]
San Diego Padres pitcher Michael King was dominant through the first two innings of his Spring Training debut. He made a mistake to start the top of the third inning, allowing a leadoff home run to Christian Moore, but he struck out two of the next three batters and finished 2.2 innings with one run […]
In short, no. Longer : The vagaries of timing and injuries mean some of the true hitting stars of the era like Trout, Bryce, Freenman and Machado are between milestones, while the slightly older players either couldn't stay stars (Cutch, Longoria) or petered out entirely (Adam Jones, Pablo Sandoval, Jason Heyward). Meanwhile on the pitching side it's becoming harder and harder for guys to get wins or honestly to get to the majors at an age early enough to challenge thin...
It had been a positive start to the spring for the Washington Nationals, but they got a reality check last night. They suffered their first defeat of the spring, losing 7-0 to the Yankees in a sloppy contest. The Nats were credited with three errors, but that is being generous. It really could have been […]
The rituals of Spring Training. Pitchers and catchers report. Batters and fielders report. Photos are taken that visually represent a player all year long, even if they shave their mustache (see Gonzalez, Romy). Sometimes these pictures are serious. Sometimes they’re silly, like the picture at the top of this piece, with Brayan Bello doing his […]
The U.S. are champions, Canada is coping, and Mike Sullivan might have created a Rangers problem.
In an interview with Scott Lauber of the Inquirer published yesterday, Zack Wheeler discussed his offseason full of surgery and recovery from a rather significant injury in the most nonchalant, Zack Wheeler way possible. Here’s an excerpt from that fascinating interview below: “In classic Wheeler fashion, he insists he isn’t worried. “I don’t think there’s […]
You know about Chris Sale. He’s a very good pitcher. He also tends to get injured a lot, sometimes in very strange ways. In 2024, he avoided getting injured until very late in the season, and won the NL Cy Young Award. In 2025, he broke his ribs diving for a ball with a sizable […]
The next player in our Birthday Series, covering every type of New York Yankee we possibly can, is one I hold in special regard. Several years ago, we did a series covering the best complementary players in Yankees history, and he was one of the nominees: former outfielder and catcher Johnny Blanchard. John Edwin BlanchardBorn: February […]
Despite the gigantic piles of snow outside my window, real baseball that matters is just one week away, with the World Baseball Classic set to begin next Thursday, March 5th. If you’re a really big fan of the tournament, you may also already know that exhibition matchups start on Tuesday, with Teams USA playing the […]
Over the last decade or so, it has felt like the balance of power in baseball has been shifting in favor of the pitchers. Paul Skenes just posted an ERA under 2.00 again, our very own Tarik Skubal is gunning for his third straight Cy Young Award, and hoards of flamethrowing relievers come out of […]
Meet the Mets The Mets fell to the Cardinals 6-0 and are now 2-2 in Grapefruit League action. Jonah Tong saw his first game action of spring and gave up a three-run home run in 2.2 innings of work. One of the candidates to make the bullpen, Adbert Alzolay, had a successful appearance in his […]
Edwin Díaz pitched a scoreless frame in his Dodgers debut on Wednesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Salt River Fields, working around a single with a strikeout in the fourth inning. The plan is for Díaz to pitch once more for the Dodgers this week before joining Puerto Rico for the World Baseball Classic. “I […]
Your morning round-up of the latest from Blueshirt Banter, Rangers News, and updates from around the NHL
Last week, Camden Chat’s Tyler Young wrote of Kyle Bradish: “All of this offseason talk around the Orioles’ ‘need’ for an ace seems to ignore the fact that they already have one in-house.” I’d venture to say they might even have two. That belief, of course, depends on how much you’re banking on Trevor Rogers’ […]
Over the last few years, we have seen a number of rule changes to Major League Baseball. This year is no different, with the addition of the Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) at the major league level. It was originally implemented in the minors starting in 2022, and a few stadiums began using it in spring […]
When I added Nathan Church to the vote, I compared him to Moises Gomez and Matt Koperniak. I’d like to apologize for doing so. I ridiculed those choices and I’m not going to do the same for Church. I don’t know where Church will place on my list, but him being on the list makes […]
It is far, far, far too early to make any proclamations about the San Francisco Giants, positive or negative. It’s far, far, far too early to make any proclamations about any of their players, save for things like “Logan Webb is awesome,” and “Jung Hoo Lee is cool” and “Does Christian Koss have a book […]