In 1910, famous Chicago sportswriter Hugh Fullerton and Chicago Cub second baseman Johnny Evers wrote a book together. They called it “Touching Second“, subtitled “The Science of Baseball”.
The Science of Baseball 100 years later
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Pirates’ Spring Training Primer: 21st century player development
Many aspects of the Pirates’ process originated in Cleveland. Huntington began his tenure as the Indians’ assistant director of minor league operations on Oct. 20, 1997. A day later, the Indians allowed seven ninth-inning runs and lost Game 3 of the World Series to the Florida Marlins.
Will King Felix Be Like Tom Terrific, Or Doc Gooden?
Felix Hernandez has been historically excellent as a youngster, ranking 15th all-time in Wins Above Replacement among starting pitchers through age 26. He also has a lot of mileage on his golden right arm. Hernandez has thrown 1,620 innings in the majors so far, the highest total for an Expansion-Era pitcher through age 26 since Dwight Gooden tossed 1,713 frames from 1984-1991.
Don’t Forget About Chase Utley
Through all the injuries, Utley has shown very little decline in his on-field performance heading into his mid-30′s.
The Mock Salary Arbitration Case in Favor of Max Scherzer Seeking $7.4 million
In the case of Max Scherzer seeking a one-year salary arbitration salary for 2013 with the Detroit Tigers, a strong case is made that the $7.4 million salary he is seeking is fair, not only in comparison to his peers within his service time class this year, but in the year prior.
Do Power Pitchers Get Squeezed?
When it comes to fastballs, pitchers who blow smoke reign supreme. The harder you throw, the better your results. Batters missed about 27% of the time that they swung at a fastball thrown 98 MPH or harder last year. By contrast, hitters whiffed at less than half that rate against fastballs lobbed under 90 MPH. But what happens when hitters don’t swing? It looks like power pitchers are actually at a disadvantage compared to their soft-tossing brethren. The harder you throw, the smaller your strike zone from the umpire.
If we’ve seen the last of Chris Carpenter …
Chris Carpenter first pitched in the major leagues in 1997, the year before Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa hit 328 home runs. He was only 22, and went 3-7 with a 5.10 ERA for the Blue Jays. The next season, Carpenter found himself as a major leaguer, and from there we can divide his career, perhaps uniquely, into six different phases …