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25 years ago today Mariano Rivera got his and the Yankees' asses walked off in Game 7 of the World Series. As of today, that was the second worst November 4th of his life.
Itoh has been one of my favorite pitchers to follow in NPB and he really throws just about everything. Any type of fastball, multiple breaking balls, eephus pitches...one I particularly liked from a few years ago was this forkball that popped out like a knuckleball.
MLB Trade Rumors@mlbtraderumors.bsky.social · 6d ago
The team with the better record won every series in this postseason First time that's happened in MLB since 1986, when there were only 3 series instead of 11 Hasn't happened in the NFL since 1972 (7 games), in the NBA since 1967 (7 series), and in the NHL since 1960 (3 series)
The 2022 Astros are the only team in the last 13 years to clinch the World Series win in their home stadium
Pat Murphy furiously asking Daniel Vogelbach to ask ChatGPT if Trevor Megill can pass for Brandon Woodruff with a fake beard
1-Run Wins in World Series Games 1 & 2 1916 Red Sox vs BKN 1950 Yankees vs PHI 1970 Orioles vs CIN 1972 Athletics vs CIN 1995 Braves vs CLE 2000 Yankees vs NYM 2026 Brewers vs TB Rays had tying run at 3B in both games! Closest comp 1916: Sox stranded bases loaded in G1 then 14-inning walk-off in G2
He needs to go to Detroit so that he can achieve a perfectly palindromic career (h/t to some Reddit thread for pointing this out at some point)
MLB Trade Rumors@mlbtraderumors.bsky.social · 2w agoThere can only be one Team of Destiny, and it is the Milwaukee Brewers.
Re-posting this in advance of the World Series of Bunts (Rays first in bunt attempts, Brewers in third behind the Diamondbacks). Bunting was up by a lot overall in the regular season, and this year's postseason teams are bunting almost twice as much as we saw in the 2022 playoffs.
I have thought about this home run many times over the past five years.
Found this old clip on my computer and it's just absolutely insane how different (many) things were in 2020
I feel like the fact that the Guardians struck out 21 batters in a 9-inning game is being undersold. That had never happened in MLB before tonight. It's a pretty big deal, especially for a winner-take-all playoff game.
Incredibly random: Fernando Tatis Jr., who just moved from RF to 2B, had the first 9-4 season (only two defensive positions, RF primary and 2B secondary) in MLB this year since Mookie Betts in 2022
Interesting article with some good info/quotes about how Cole's stuff plays in the controlled environment at the Trop. Cole's fastball vertical break numbers by park this year (data from Pitch Info): 1. TB, 17.4" 2. BAL, 16.9" 3. DET, 16.8" --- 9. NYY, 16.3" --- 13. CHC, 15.2"
The hidden reason behind the Yankees choosing Gerrit Cole to start Game 1 of the ALDS
nytimes.com
One of my favorite pitches in the league. We've been tagging it as a forkball at Pitch Info going back to mid-2025, when the shape began to resemble what it's been this year.
FanGraphs Baseball@fangraphs.com · last mo.Cade Smith Found the Sweet Spot on a Lethal, Low-Spin Splitter blogs.fangraphs.com/cade-smith-f...
Will Warren averaged 96 with both of his fastballs last night and touched 98 for the first time since Opening Day. Totally different look out of the pen and I'm curious where he'll be in the pecking order next week.
Red Sox looked completely overmatched, and it’s important to remember how unremarkable they were for much of the season outside of that crazy five-week stretch.
A thing I sometimes look at: pitch count prior to final inning, as it reflects the manager's decision to send a guy back out better than raw pitch count. Schlittler's game yesterday (107 before the 7th) was second-highest in the Boone era, behind only the Gerrit Cole shutout in Houston in July 2021.
Not much recent precedent for this, if you exclude openers. The last instance I can find was Tyler Anderson for the Mariners on September 25th/28th, 2021.
Matt Gelb@mattgelb.bsky.social · last mo.Aaron Nola is starting tonight on two days’ rest.
Good shot from YES of Brendan Beck's kick-change, with his middle finger spiked on release. He's the only pitcher on the Yankees who throws one.
A very simple graph of team bunt attempts and whether or not they were "good," irrespective of game state (sacrifices or bunt hits=good, misses or fouls or non-sacrifice outs=bad). Bunts are up by a lot across the league this year with the Rays (unsurprisingly) doing it more than anyone.
Gerrit Cole is expanding his mix again after being a four-pitch guy (four-seam, slider, curve, change) for his dominant starts out of the all-star break. He's sprinkled in a few cutters the past month, threw 10 sinkers yesterday, and also appeared to try a sweeper (he wasn't happy with it).
Worth noting that there's a rule of diminishing returns when it comes to corporate stadium names. Sure, Comerica Park was also a corporate name, but it was the only name that ballpark ever had, so at least it was closely identified with Tigers baseball for more than 25 years.
Still marveling, this morning. Sandy Alcantara just up and became a between-starts closer, like something out of the 1910s. www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article...
'I Want to Die Out There for My Team' | Baseball Prospectus
In the moment, it felt crazy. In retrospect, it made perfect sense.
baseballprospectus.com
Since I'm seeing Rodón velocity discourse on the other site: the 90.1 mph fastball was actually a mis-tagged sinker (which is slower on average), and as I've talked about ad nauseam, Rodón gains velo throughout the game. If he's still low-90s in the 5th or 6th inning, it's more notable.
Schmidt confirmed that he's ditched the sweeper this morning.
Lucas@dbitlefty.bsky.social · 2mo agoWhen Schmidt returns to the mound, we will not be seeing the big sweeper he debuted last year. He said that it contributed to his elbow injury, which was a refreshingly blunt admission (I believe it was @garyhphillips.bsky.social who had the initial reporting on this)
When Schmidt returns to the mound, we will not be seeing the big sweeper he debuted last year. He said that it contributed to his elbow injury, which was a refreshingly blunt admission (I believe it was @garyhphillips.bsky.social who had the initial reporting on this)
Lucas@dbitlefty.bsky.social · 2y agoClarke Schmidt made a tweak to his slider prior to yesterday's start, leading to a lot more movement on it than he was getting before.
