At many points this year, the Atlanta Hawks’ season has seemed to teeter on the brink of destruction. They started out with a sub-.500 record under former coach Lloyd Pierce before switching to Nate McMillan at midseason; they were heavily picked against by the media going into the first round of the playoffs against the […]
Before 2019, Marcus Semien was already a valuable major leaguer. His solid glove and roughly league-average offensive output were more than enough to make him a quality shortstop, if an unspectacular one. He showed his power potential in 2016, blasting 27 home runs en route to career highs to that point in slugging percentage (.435) […]
With a pair of home runs against the New York Yankees in the Bronx on Tuesday night, Shohei Ohtani continued what has been nothing less than a remarkable 2021 season. Ohtani’s homers — Nos. 27 and 28 on the year — vaulted him into the MLB lead ahead of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and gave him […]
In a Western Conference finals featuring huge performances from unheralded players, arguably no role player has had a greater impact on this series than backup point guard Cam Payne. And the path he’s taken to get here has made his playoff performance all the more remarkable. Just a few years ago, Payne had washed out […]
First, we check in with MLB after a weekend of chaos, drama and pants. The league’s directive to enforce rules against “sticky stuff” and illegal grip aids has already seen a reduction in pitchers’ spin rates that might solve some of baseball’s bigger problems. Pitchers are not taking it in stride, and for good reason […]