The usage of shifts in MLB has exploded this season. Teams are on pace to combine for more than 13,000 shifts on balls in play this year, up from just over 8,000 a year ago. Front offices and field staffs are shifting their defensive infield alignments as a result of…
Nearly a month into the MLB season, the signal in the Defensive Runs Saved data is beginning to break free of the noise. The elite defenders are steadily climbing toward the top of the leaderboards, while the less talented gloves are falling to the back of the pack. With that…
For most baseball fans, when you hear the name Adam Eaton, the first person that comes to mind is probably the 36-year-old right-hander who played a decade in MLB from 2000 to 2009. That Adam Eaton, a Washington native, had himself a respectable career. A former first-rounder, he was once…
The escalating use of defensive shifts across baseball during the past few seasons has been well documented, and in 2013, the Houston Astros were among the leaders when it came to implementing radical defensive alignments. A year ago, the Astros ranked fifth in baseball in defensive shifts on balls in play with 496, while…
On Saturday, Mike Trout hit another milestone in his already outstanding baseball career, although his first four-strikeout game in the majors was a milestone he would have preferred to have taken longer to achieve. After the game, Trout said all the things one would expect him to say after a…
Part of Mike Trout’s appeal is his ability to do literally anything on a baseball field. Trout is a line-drive hitter with over-the-fence power. He can propel his prototypical linebacker body to a 6.5-second 60-yard dash and possesses a plus arm that he used to draw accolades on the mound…
Spring Training hasn’t been good to the Braves. Doctors determined that both Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy would need to undergo their second Tommy John surgeries. While acting quickly to bring Ervin Santana into the fold will soften the blow considerably, these injuries have exposed a severe lack of depth in…
Last season, A.J. Burnett pitched 191 stellar innings, leading Pittsburgh to its first postseason appearance since Sid Bream’s slide ended the 1992 NLDS. Burnett’s 3.30 ERA was backed up by even better peripherals, as his 2.80 Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) mark was fifth among qualified NL hurlers. While Burnett certainly…
Derek Jeter recently announced through Facebook that the 2014 season would be his last. Immediately upon his announcement, ticket prices for Jeter’s final home game at Yankee Stadium soared. Before the announcement, tickets for the September 25th game against the Baltimore Orioles were selling for less than $100 on StubHub; however,…
When the Diamondbacks, Angels, and White Sox agreed on a three-team deal that sent Mark Trumbo to the desert during this year’s Winter Meetings, the trade was widely panned from the Diamondbacks’ perspective. Many observers felt that the Snakes had given up too much young, controllable talent in a myopic…
