When the Milwaukee Brewers ended their six-year playoff drought in 2018, they did it with a very particular formula borrowed from another recent champion: great defense, speed around the basepaths and — perhaps most importantly — a lights-out bullpen. Highlighted by Josh Hader and his unhittable fastball, the Brewers’ pitching strategy revolved around getting a […]
Stealing signs has been part of baseball since signs existed. The spycraft is generally accepted so long as the efforts are not aided electronically. Yet as early as 1900, there were technology-aided attempts to steal signs. The 1951 New York Giants used a telescope and an electrical buzzer to relay opposing catchers’ pitch calls in […]
The defining characteristics of baseball in 2019 are the home run and the strikeout. Both are at all-time highs as of Tuesday. Make no mistake, the two statistics are closely related — and have been throughout baseball history. This season, as of Tuesday, there are 6.4 strikeouts per homer. The average in the Live Ball […]
Last Saturday, Max Scherzer threw a no-hitter that was one regrettable pitch from being a perfect game. In the start before that, Scherzer racked up 16 strikeouts on his way to one of the best pitching performances of all time, and on Friday night, he was perfect through the sixth inning against the Phillies, striking […]
Last Saturday, Max Scherzer threw a no-hitter that was one regrettable pitch from being a perfect game. In the start before that, Scherzer racked up 16 strikeouts on his way to one of the best pitching performances of all time, and on Friday night, he was perfect through the sixth inning against the Phillies, striking […]
