Thinking about in-season catcher trades between rivals, Elston Howard going from the Yankees to the Red Sox on August 3, 1967 is notable. Near the end of his career at age 38, Howard was nonetheless a former MVP who’d won Gold Gloves & made numerous All-Star teams. A valuable pennant-chase pickup.
Goodbye Cleveland. It was a fun (and busy) few days.
Sunday Notes: Tarik Skubal Sees a Trend in Multiple-Fastball Repertoires blogs.fangraphs.com/sunday-notes...
Sunday Notes: Tarik Skubal Sees a Trend in Multiple-Fastball Repertoires
Plus Will Middlebrooks on taking a legend deep, Sandy Alomar Jr. and Mike Hargrove on Albert Belle, Blake Butera and Torey Lovullo on trades, facts and stats galore, and more.
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This is the third time in Tigers history that they’ve scored in every inning they batted, joining: 8/2/14 (batted in 8 innings of 9-inning game) 6/30/1912 (batted in 6 innings of a game that went 6 innings, 2nd game of doubleheader) h/t @EliasSports
A Resurgent Caleb Durbin Has Helped Resurrect the Red Sox Offense blogs.fangraphs.com/a-resurgent-...
A Resurgent Caleb Durbin Has Helped Resurrect the Red Sox Offense
Fueled by multiple subtle changes, the third baseman’s swing has gone from moribund to smoking hot.
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Sunday Notes: Tasty Tidbits From the Cutting-Room Floor blogs.fangraphs.com/sunday-notes...
Sunday Notes: Tasty Tidbits From the Cutting-Room Floor
Plus Jordan Walker’s temporary record, Craig Albernaz on not overreacting, Red Sox draftee Jace Mataczynski on his swing, Padres prospect Ryan Wideman on his tools, facts and stats galore, and more.
blogs.fangraphs.com
ICYMI: the 125th installment of FanGraphs' Talks Hitting series features a five-time All-Star who is more than just a slugger; he is a student of his craft.
FanGraphs Baseball@fangraphs.com · 2w agoPete Alonso Talks Hitting blogs.fangraphs.com/pete-alonso-...
This time next week I will be in Cleveland for the SABR convention and a handful of Guardians-Diamondbacks games. If it fits your schedule and pocketbook, I urge you to do the same. Enjoyment will be aplenty.
Cole Sulser Discusses Pitch Design and the Properties of Seam Shift blogs.fangraphs.com/cole-sulser-...
Cole Sulser Discusses Pitch Design and the Properties of Seam Shift
The Tampa Bay Rays reliever has a degree in engineering sciences and a deep understanding of pitching analytics.
blogs.fangraphs.com
Here's a fun one from the game notes: Gunnar Henderson has reached base in 28 consecutive games at Fenway Park to begin his career. That ties Bernie Williams for the longest career-opening streak by a visitor at Fenway (1991-1997 for Williams)
The Boston Red Sox have won 15 consecutive games.
“Everything is going to be a joy ride tonight, without the joy.” —Jason Benetti on tonight’s Tigers broadcast.
Yordan Alvarez leads the American League in all three Triple Crown categories.
Drew Rasmussen Developed a Two-Seam Runner Because of Bo Bichette blogs.fangraphs.com/drew-rasmuss...
Drew Rasmussen Developed a Two-Seam Runner Because of Bo Bichette
The Tampa Bay Rays right-hander has three fastball variations, one of which came to be with a single hitter in mind.
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At Fenway to see Red Sox win their 14th consecutive game, now home watching Cubs-Tigers on my laptop and quaffing a cold Bell's Amber. Pleasant evening of baseball enjoyment,
ICYMI yesterday: 3,000-ish words about many things baseball, leading with some Detroit Tigers content.
FanGraphs Baseball@fangraphs.com · 2w agoSunday Notes: Intent Increased, Troy Melton Weaponized His Cutter blogs.fangraphs.com/sunday-notes...
Colt Keith had no home runs over his first 196 plate appearances this season. The Tigers infielder/DH has since gone deep eight times in 84 plate appearances.
Sunday Notes: Intent Increased, Troy Melton Weaponized His Cutter blogs.fangraphs.com/sunday-notes...
Sunday Notes: Intent Increased, Troy Melton Weaponized His Cutter
Plus Riley Greene on McGonigle and Skubal, Clayton Campbell on the World Cup, René Rivera on King Felix, Nationals prospect Christian Franklin, facts and stats galore, and more.
blogs.fangraphs.com
Interesting play at Fenway. With a runner on second & Chandler Simpson at the plate, Red Sox 1B Willson Contreras charged in so close that he could almost shake the speedster's hand (only a slight exaggeration). Simpson did bunt, but not to Contreras, who couldn't outrun him to first.
Junior Caminero just homered over the Green Monster. The ball went out in a great hurry. The time he took rounding the bases was anything but a great hurry.
Masataka Yoshida just hit a 328-foot home run that had an 87-mph exit velocity. In his previous at bat he squibbed an opposite field double that had a 43.9-mph exit velocity.
Athletics Southpaw Gage Jump Addresses His Studious, Low-Angle Approach blogs.fangraphs.com/athletics-so...
Athletics Southpaw Gage Jump Addresses His Studious, Low-Angle Approach
The rookie southpaw has a lower slot and a data-influenced approach.
blogs.fangraphs.com
I was today years old when I learned there is such a thing as Cameo. Not just Cameo itself, but any such thing. The world we live in is, in many ways, a bit curious.
The one bright spot with Fox putting one of their lesser play-by-play announcers on today’s match presumably means we get Darke or Fletcher tomorrow for Argentina-England. And I would certainly hope we get Darke or Fletcher for the final.
I have ostensibly been on vacation the past six days. Over this span I have spent six days/nights in ballparks and talked to 15 players and a handful of coaches and/or managers. I am not very good at vacations.