The 2021 MLB playoffs are nearly at hand, and if the end of the regular season is any indication, the postseason is sure to give us a mad month full of unpredictable baseball. Right now, our MLB forecast model assigns eight teams at least a 5 percent chance of winning the World Series, and each […]
To say the Houston Astros are disliked would be an understatement. “Loathed” seems closer to the mark. Nearly two years after Houston’s cheating scandal shook the sport, most baseball fans still aren’t over it — particularly since their ability to yell at the team in person was put on hold by COVID-19 last year. While […]
When the Houston Astros spent most of the 2020 regular season underperforming, it was tempting to see their struggles as proof that their sign-stealing system fueled the franchise’s recent rise. The official investigation into the scheme — which involved using video to decode opponents’ signs in real time, then transmitting the signs to batters via […]
Baseball returns this week for what we can all hope is a more normal season after last year’s abbreviated 60-game, expanded-playoffs pandemic campaign. Accordingly, we’ve launched our 2021 MLB forecast model, with win totals and playoff odds that look a little bit more regular than they did going into 2020. As always, we estimate each […]
On Sept. 29, 2018, Houston Astros outfielder Myles Straw dug in against Yefry Ramírez of the Baltimore Orioles. Straw ran the count full, then drove a ball the other way, over the left-center field fence. The delight of his teammates and announcers was beyond the normal glee after a major leaguer’s first home run. It […]