J.D. Martinez changed baseball hitting philosophy once. Maybe he’s playing a part in changing it again. Martinez was one of the original fly-ball revolutionaries. He was one of the first hitters to go against convention, possibly risking his career, by adopting an uppercut swing to try to hit for more power. Like many hitters, he […]
gfoster (Geoff Foster, sports editor): Welcome to FiveThirtyEight’s postseason MLB chat. We are done with the one-game wild-card playoffs. We are done with the one-game playoffs to figure out who would play in the one-game playoffs. And the Oakland Athletics and the Chicago Cubs are the first casualties of October. I think Oakland has to […]
Most years, the American League’s Most Valuable Player award is basically Mike Trout’s hardware to lose. In his five full MLB seasons, the Los Angeles Angels outfielder never finished lower than second in MVP voting — winning the honor twice — and he led the AL in wins above replacement each of those campaigns. Before […]
The first Yankees-Red Sox matchup of 2018 is happening tonight, and ordinarily, we’d be full of anticipation over one of the best seasons in memory for the historic rivalry. And yet, between injuries and early-season slumps, a bucket of cold water has been splashed on each team’s start of the season. The Yankees come into […]
The first Yankees-Red Sox matchup of 2018 is happening tonight, and ordinarily, we’d be full of anticipation over one of the best seasons in memory for the historic rivalry. And yet, between injuries and early-season slumps, a bucket of cold water has been splashed on each team’s start of the season. The Yankees come into […]