Oakland Coliseum; CC by License 2.0 Mason Miller of the Oakland A’s has taken Major League Baseball by storm this season, coming out of the bullpen with an electric fastball reaching 103.7 mph and while striking out 56.7% of batters he’s faced so far. He is also yet to allow a single barrelled ball in his first 285 pitches this season, which is a remarkable feat when you consider the fact that the average MLB pitcher allows 7 in every 100 pitches thrown. He’s saved 8 games for the A’s, totaling nearly half of the A’s current total of 19 wins, and is rumored to be on the trading block at the ..read more

For one reason or another, minor league starters are sometimes converted to relievers upon arrival to the majors. Pitchers with elite stuff who would struggle as major-league starters, whether it be due to struggles with command or a lack of a deep repertoire, can reinvent themselves by converting to high-leverage relievers. But what about the other way around? Can relievers effectively transition to being starters? Three former relievers are all trying to make this transition today.  Michael King, San Diego Padres Stats through May 6: 42.0 IP, 4.96 pCRA, 24.8% K%, 12.4% BB%, 10.0% B ..read more

Baseball Savant is one of the most useful tools for hardcore baseball fans to research player analytics and check in to see how players are doing. It is a great collection of metrics that baseball fans and statheads like me love. However, a lot of people are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of data on a Baseball Savant page or just look at the famous red or blue bubbles to see how good a player is. Since diving headfirst into a Savant page with no experience can be intimidating, I have written part one of a two-part guide on how to properly analyze a Baseball Savant page and separate useful ..read more

Scott Boras; CC by License 2.0 This MLB offseason was one of the most dragged out in the sport’s recent history. The signings and trades were seemingly all dependent on Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yammamoto’s decisions. Once they signed, fans expected the rest of the high-profile players to sign in the following weeks. This was far from the truth. Scott Boras, the agent representing the four of the top free agents of the 2023-2024 offseason, was on a mission to get his guys the best deals possible, even if this meant waiting until the regular season started in one player’s case.  Boras ..read more

The year was 2016. The Chicago Cubs just beat the Cleveland Indians in one of the best World Series of all time, and those two teams looked poised to be powerhouses for the next few years. Meanwhile, at the bottom of the leaderboard, just barely above the 59-103 Minnesota Twins, sat the 68-93 Atlanta Braves. They had just finished their last game in the infamous Turner Field and had parted ways with their manager, Fredi Gonzalez, midseason, replacing him with longtime organizational coaching staff member Brian Snitker. Just two years later in 2018, the Braves won their division for the first ..read more

Jackson Holliday playing for the Baltimore Orioles Florida Complex Leage; CC by License 2.0 After the implementation of the Prospect Promotion Incentive as a part of the 2022 CBA, we’ve seen an increasing number of top prospects crack MLB opening day rosters. This is a quick look at some blue-chip prospects that can make an impact at the big league level this year. I’ll be taking a look at what they need to do to earn a roster spot in the show and how they will impact their ballclub at the next level. Jackson Holliday: IF, Baltimore Orioles By far the most abysmal roster decision this year ..read more

Ronald Acuna playing for the Atlanta Braves; CC by License 2.0 Everyone knows the saying about Spring Training: these games don’t matter. What is the reasoning behind this saying? Well, the games really do not matter. There is no trophy to win or bragging rights to earn. In fact, it is common to see the weakest regular-season teams perform the best in spring training games.  The time spent in Arizona or Florida before the season is for clubs to lock in, preparing for the marathon that is the MLB regular season. There are some incentives for superstars across the league to try in spring tr ..read more

If you are reading this, there is a decent chance you play MLB the Show. The new edition is coming out soon, and in one of the trailers, they revealed a new legend of the game: Marcenia Lyle, better known as Toni Stone, the first woman to play professional baseball. Now if you are like me, you have no idea who this person is, which is crazy because you think that a woman playing professional baseball would be talked about more often. Now, Negro League players have an ambiguous history because different sources give many different, and sometimes unreliable, accounts of their careers. However ..read more

MJ Melendez hitting for the Kansas City Royals; CC by License 2.0 Every season players come out of nowhere and break onto the scene, and every offseason the media tries to predict who these breakout players will be. These players often can make or break a team's season and can have a big impact on the season as a whole. A couple of examples from the 2023 season are Jonah Heim, George Kirby, Orlando Arcia, and Justin Steele. I attempted to do this last year and had mixed results picking: Christian Yelich, Bryan De La Cruz, Garrett Whitlock, and Aaron Ashby. So today we are going to use stats a ..read more

,,Hunter Pence played baseball like a freak. Watching any highlight of his will leave you shocked at how he manages to even get the bat on the ball. Despite his unorthodox play style, Pence was a 4-time All-Star and earned MVP votes four times in his 17-year major-league career. It was not always easy, as he battled through rough injuries in the back half of his time in the majors. Pence is a beloved player by fans of all the teams he played for, but his time with the San Francisco Giants will be forever special. Pence established himself as an elite vibes guy when he was traded to the G ..read more