Category: Baseball

The Pittsburgh Pirates have announced that Konnor Griffin will be on their big league roster for the home opener against the Baltimore Orioles. There are also reports that Griffin and the organization are finalizing what will be a record breaking contract extension for the 19-year-old superstar.

News of the extension was broke by ESPN’s Buster Olney on X, stating that Griffin and the Pirates were working on signing a nine-year $140 million extension. This contract would make Griffin the highest paid player in franchise history, breaking the record previously held by All-Star Bryan Reynolds who received an eight-year $106.75 million extension in 2023. Griffin’s deal would have him making roughly $15.5 million a year.

Not only does it shatter any contract records from previous Pirates, it also breaks new ground for extensions given to a player with no service time in Major League Baseball. The previous record was held by the Seattle Mariners’ top prospect, Colt Emerson, who signed a deal for eight-years $95 million just days before the news broke of Griffin’s deal. The timing of this signing plays into future endeavors for the Pirates as well. Through the Prospect Promotions Incentive the organization could gain future draft capital if Griffin finishes as the Rookie of the Year or has a year where he finishes as a top MVP candidate before his arbitration period.

A contract of this size is unprecedented and uncharted territory for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Griffin’s contract extension to reiterate is the largest in franchise history, but this also could be a sign of things changing within the organization. In the Bob Nutting era the Pirates have been notoriously cheap. It took ten years between 2016 and 2026 for the organization to sign a free-agent to a multi-year contract. Now though the Pirates have shown that they are willing to make splash signings, be aggressive in the trade market and commit serious money to their young stars. Griffin could be just the first star for the Pirates to be tied down with a contract of this size. One would think that players like Paul Skenes, Bubba Chandler and Brandon Lowe could be in line for extensions as well.

Griffin is the top prospect in baseball and although many were shocked that he got sent down to Triple-A following spring training, everyone knew it was only going to be a matter of time before he got promoted to Pittsburgh. While in Indianapolis he had a slash line of .438/.571/.625 with three steals and seven hits in 16 at bats.

The Konnor Griffin era in Pittsburgh is officially upon us. The Pirates made an incredible move to lock down a player like Griffin who shows promise to be a franchise cornerstone. Griffin is already in rarefied air, as he joins a small elite group of former top prospects to debut in the majors as a teenager. The likes of Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., and Bryce Harper all blazed their paths in baseball as teenagers and now Griffin is set to do the same as Pittsburgh’s big league shortstop of the future.

Through the first week of this new season, Alex Cora has already started to shuffle the lineup, swapping both personnel and positioning. It’s not entirely surprising—this team simply hasn’t found its footing and this is the easiest lever for Cora to pull.

But the issue here isn’t just that the Red Sox aren’t hitting. It’s that they’re being trotted out there in an order that doesn’t make much sense. Up and down the lineup, there’s a disconnect between skillset and role that has quietly defined the first week of the season. It feels like Cora is trying to map this year’s players onto last year’s lineup—and it just doesn’t fit.

The problem isn’t just that the Red Sox aren’t seeing the ball. They also have the wrong lineup for the team they’re actually fielding.

What’s wrong

The current lineup embraces the traditional model of lineup construction: get guys on base early, put your prototypical power hitters in heart of the lineup, then add some protection and shield weaknesses down low. The problem is that the 2026 Boston Red Sox have a glut of one role and a lack of the other.

There’s no David Ortiz, Mookie Betts, Alex Bregman, or even an Adam Duvall or Tyler O’Neill anchoring the cleanup spot. Production isn’t tied to one core bat; it’s been distributed amongst a few key men, and it’s been inconsistent all the way around. What the Red Sox actually have is a collection of contact hitters who are better at creating traffic than clearing it.

This is a team that needs baserunners early, a small ball mindset, and a willingness to be patient, elevating opposing pitch counts and taxing bullpens. Asking this roster to behave like a slugging team that can pile on home run after home run to make up a deficit is how you end up with empty innings and the dreaded LOB numbers that are creeping back into this season from last year.

One through three

Jarren Duran leading off is obvious, not just because of his speed, but because of the way he sets the table. His ability to turn routine ground balls into infield singles and what should be singles into extra base hits puts immediate stress on opposing teams. Instead of being the slugger he was with Mexico in the WBC, he needs ot turn back into The Angry Lizard we all know.

Roman Anthony hitting second then makes complete tense. He lengthens at-bats and his eye for the strike zone is going to absolutely terrorize pitchers, as it already is with his ABS challenges. If Duran is on base already, you’re set up for a potential RBI opportunity with the second batter of the game. If not, Anthony is strong enough in his own right to warrant caution early on.

Trevor Story—when he’s hitting—is a complete hitter. He has enough of both contact and pop that it makes sense to pencil him into the three hole. He’s never completely one or the other, but you can bank on him being at least consistent in that slot.

This trio doesn’t need to rake to be effective. It just needs to keep the line moving.

Four through six

Without a true middle-of-the-order slugger, the Red Sox have to rethink what the core of the lineup is supposed to do.

Wilyer Abreu hitting cleanup might not look normal, with his traditional role being in the five or six hole, but it makes all the sense in the world right now. The cleanup spot should go to a hitter who is actually producing, not one who fits the visuals of a cleanup hitter. Abreu hit the ground running for Venezuela and that pop is still there with Boston too. He’s the closest thing to a traditional slugger this lineup has and he needs to be given opportunities before there are already two down in a frame.

Willson Contreras hitting fifth still puts him in plenty of run-producing situations without making the entire offense dependent on him. It spreads the responsibility out instead of concentrating it. 2026 hasn’t been kind to Contreras so far, but there’s a long way to go and Contreras in the fifth slot gives Abreu more protection than he’s had so far.

Carlos Narváez behind them gives the lineup a chance to stabilize rather than fall off a cliff. He has power and the ability to get on base, just not at the same clip as the guys above him. He’s the transitional piece from top to bottom.

Seven through nine

Durbin hitting sixth early in the season hasn’t worked out in the least bit. His game is built on contact and speed. He’s a guy who swings a bat with the same force as me swatting a fly with a rolled up newspaper, and asking him to drive in runs consistently from the middle of the order puts him in situations that don’t match his profile. He’s not Alex Bregman and Alex Cora needs to remember that. Batting him seventh allows him to set the table himself if the first two innings come up empty, or create pressure at the bottom if there’s a rally to lengthen.

Marcelo Mayer presents a different version of the same problem. He’s being shielded against left handed pitching and platooned so far. It’s understandable for a young player, but with how smooth his start to the season has been, it’s shocking not to see him every day at this point. Hitting him eighth keeps the pressure off him while still giving him consistent at-bats. If the Red Sox believe in Mayer enough to start him, they should believe in him enough to let him play through his development issues.

Ninth has always been the right spot in the lineup for Ceddanne Rafaela. His bat can be so boom-or-bust that he needs the protection the rest of the lineup provides, but when he’s on, he supplies a kind of chaos that can make or break games.  If he can keep the line moving for the top of the lineup, it unleashes a never ending wave of pressure on opposing pitchers, and that’s what will drive the Red Sox to more wins. For a team that depends on momentum and pressure, Rafaela’s role is a big one for what you’d think of a nine-hole hitter.

The right lineup for now

There’s no perfect version of this lineup. There’s no hidden star arriving to fix everything overnight. Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer are here to stay, and there are no more magic prospects ready to make an immediate impact. Craig Breslow isn’t making any panic trades this early in the season.

But there is a version of this lineup that actually makes sense:

Duran
Anthony
Story
Abreu
Contreras
Narváez
Mayer
Durbin
Rafaela

The Red Sox don’t need to keep throwing their lineup in a blender. I understand the need to swap players in and out to match strengths, but the more they do this, the less chemistry this team develops and the longer they’re going to be out of sorts. Alex Cora needs to find his optimal batting order and stick to it.

Triple-A: Syracuse Mets (3-2)

TOLEDO 17, SYRACUSE 7 (BOX)

Well, Jonah Tong’s second Triple-A start didn’t go as well as his first. The 22-year-old didn’t make it out of the second inning as he surrendered seven runs, four of them earned. The Syracuse bullpen didn’t fare any better than that the rest of the way, either, and position player Jose Rojas threw the final two innings of this one, faring better than some of the actual pitchers who preceded him.

If you’re looking for bright spots here, well, Hayden Senger hit a pair of home runs, while Vidal Bruján, Nick Morabito, and Ronny Mauricio all had very good nights at the plate.

• DH Nick Morabito: 2-4, R, 2B, BB, K
• RF MJ Melendez: 0-4, BB, 2 K
• SS Ronny Mauricio: 3-5, 2B, RBI, E
• LF Ryan Clifford: 2-5, 2B, 2 K
• 1B Christian Arroyo: 1-4, R, BB, 2 K
• 2B Vidal Bruján: 2-4, R, 2B, BB, K
• CF Cristian Pache: 0-5, RBI
• 3B Jackson Cluff: 1-3, 2 R, BB, K, E
• C Hayden Senger: 2-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI, K
• P Jonah Tong: 1.2 IP, 4 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
• P Dan Hammer: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
• P Ryan Lambert: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
• P Alex Carrillo: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
• P Ofreidy Gómez: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• P Daniel Duarte: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
• P Jose Rojas: 2.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (0-0)

NO GAME (SCHEDULE)

High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones (0-0)

NO GAME (SCHEDULE)

Single-A: St. Lucie Mets (0-0)

PALM BEACH 6, ST. LUCIE 3 (BOX)

The St. Lucie Mets played their first game of the season, but they unfortunately joined their higher-level counterparts in losing to make it a full-system-swept night of Mets baseball. In his stateside debut, 18-year-old Elian Peña made a great impression with two hits, one of which was a double, and a walk.

• SS Elian Peña: 2-4, 2B, BB, K
• 2B Eddinson Paulino: 0-4, BB, K
• 1B Randy Guzman: 0-4, BB, 2 K
• DH Julio Zayas: 2-5, 2 R, 2B, 2 K
• LF AJ Salgado: 1-4, R, HR, 2 RBI, BB, K
• RF Simon Juan: 1-4, 2 K, E
• C Chase Meggers: 1-3, RBI, BB, K
• 3B Kevin Villavicencio: 0-4
• CF Sam Robertson: 0-3, BB, 2 K
• P Nicolas Carreno: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• P Tyler McLoughlin: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
• P Omar Victorino: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 1 K
• P Felix Cepeda: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Rookie: FCL Mets (0-0)

NO GAME (SCHEDULE)

STAR OF THE NIGHT

Hayden Senger

GOAT OF THE NIGHT

Jonah Tong

After a rollicking start to the year on the west coast, the Yankees head back home to host the Marlins for a three-game set in the Bronx. The team’s starting rotation has been particularly dominant, holding the Giants and Mariners to just two runs in 34 innings as they helped lead New York to a 5-1 record. They’ll face a young Marlins team that also enters play at 5-1 after taking care of business at home against the White Sox and Rockies, last year’s two 100-loss teams. They’ll face a tougher test this weekend against a rested and, ostensibly, focused Yankees squad. Let’s take a look at the likely pitching matchups, starting with today’s game.

Friday: Will Warren vs. Eury Pérez(1:35 pm ET)

After an inconsistent but promising rookie campaign last year, Will Warren’s sophomore season got off to a decent start last Saturday in San Francisco. While he only went 4.1 innings and allowed seven Giants to reach base, he held his opponents to a single run, working around traffic in an eventual 3-1 victory. After throwing 83 pitches in that start, the right-hander should be prepared to shoulder a full workload today.

Baseball America’s number-seven prospect entering 2023, Eury Pérez burst on the scene that season, pitching to a 3.15 ERA in 19 starts while punching out 108 batters in 91.1 innings. After missing all of the following year due to Tommy John surgery, he didn’t find the same success last year as his ERA jumped to 4.25. Still, many of his underlying metrics suggest he ran into some bad luck and, at 22, the phenom remains one of the most promising young pitchers in baseball. Pérez looked solid in his first outing this year, limiting the Rockies to three runs in seven innings while striking out eight.

Saturday: Ryan Weathers vs. Max Meyer (7:05 pm ET)

After coming over from Miami, Ryan Weathers had a carbon copy of Warren’s season debut, holding a strong Mariners lineup to one run over 4.1 innings. He got more than half of his outs via the strikeout, an encouraging sign after the Yankees retooled his arsenal this offseason, upping his sinker usage while fading his changeup, against which opponents slugged .571 last season. The southpaw will look to leverage his new approach against his former team though, after throwing 77 pitches last time out, he may not yet be ready to shoulder a full 90-plus pitch workload.

Like Pérez, Max Meyer is a former top prospect who’s been waylaid by injury. He has made just 26 starts since debuting in 2022 and pitched to a 5.29 ERA in that time. Now 27, he features a filthy slider as a primary pitch but has struggled to get outs with the fastball (opponents hit .315 against his heater last season). In his first start of the year, Meyer went five innings against Colorado, allowing three runs in an eventual Miami victory.

Sunday: Max Fried vs. Chris Paddack (1:35 pm ET)

Taking advantage of a bevy of early off days, the Yankees are employing a four-man rotation, allowing them to line up ace Max Fried for his third start in the Yankees’ ninth game of the season. He’s looked every bit the pitcher who finished fourth in AL Cy Young voting last year, tossing 13.1 scoreless innings through his first two starts while taking the victory in each. He’s been throwing his four-seamer nearly twice as often as last season and to great effect, holding opponents to one single while striking out six in 10 at-bats ending on the pitch.

He’ll face Chris Paddack. While the veteran posted up last year, making 28 starts to go with five more relief appearances, he struggled mightily, leading all of baseball with 94 earned runs allowed. The Marlins took a flier on their former eighth-round pick from the 2015 Draft, and the reunion got off to a rough start, with the right-hander allowing eight runs in four innings against the White Sox en route to the Marlins’ only loss of the year thus far. Paddack primarily features a fastball and changeup, with several other complementary pitches in the mix.

Hello, friends.

The Orioles will be back at it today after having the day off yesterday. Don’t forget that this is the home opener game for Pittsburgh, which means the very atypical Friday game time of 4:12pm Eastern time. If you show up at 6:30 or 7 wondering when the game is going to start, you may be very confused and potentially disappointed depending on what you missed before that.

One thing I’ll be looking for today is an update on whatever was found or not found on Zach Eflin’s elbow MRI. I have a feeling they knew yesterday and are just waiting until the next formal availability for manager Craig Albernaz before today’s game in order to deliver the bad news to local media. I could be wrong – as anybody who reads this site for a while knows, it happens all the time.

In the short term, nothing changes regardless of when the news is delivered on Eflin. The Orioles will have to be without him for a while and that will take some juggling by Monday or Tuesday. I’m just as curious what the plan is there. We can all assume that it’s going to be Dean Kremer as much as we want to, but until they announce something, we can’t be sure. Kremer can’t be called up before April 9 unless there’s an injury, so I’d say we can’t rule out the possibility of an Albert Suárez spot start on either Monday or Tuesday.

Pittsburgh brings a 3-3 record into this series, same as the Orioles. They’re also bringing some hype, as it looks like they’ll be calling up the #1 prospect in the game, Konnor Griffin, to join the team and make his debut tonight. Griffin does not even turn 20 years old until later this month. The rumor mill suggests he’s got a handshake agreement to sign a nine-year, $140 million contract extension as soon as he plays one game. It’s going to be interesting to see over time which side got the better out of that deal.

Orioles stuff you might have missed

Orioles hope improved rotation depth can make up for Eflin’s loss (Baltimore Baseball)
There’s no question that having Dean Kremer as the #6 guy entering the season is way better than where things were last year. It’s not great that they’re going to have to move everybody below him up the line by one before we reach a double digit day in April.

For any pitching predicament, Orioles can always call on ‘Big Al’ (Orioles.com)
The offer was not valid in 2025. Maybe the Orioles will be able to call on him for much of 2026, though. And hopefully he’ll pitch well enough that they want him to be around.

Colton Cowser and Shane Baz faced each other as kids. Who won is an open debate. (The Baltimore Banner)
Fun story to have both of these guys now Orioles at the same time! Next step: Both of them playing well at the same time.

40% of Marylanders identify as Orioles fans, UMBC poll shows (The Baltimore Sun)
A solid percentage, if you ask me, although I’m sure that the business operations of the Orioles would like it if it was higher. Not that they’re doing much to try to change that.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

The most recent Orioles victory on this day came two years ago. The team walked off the Royals thanks to James McCann’s two-out, two-run single in the ninth inning. Earlier in the game, Corbin Burnes pitched reasonably well. Just five players who appeared for the team that day are on the active roster right now.

One lone former Oriole has a birthday today. Happy 51st to Koji Uehara, who finished with a 3.03 ERA in 98 games across three seasons with the team. Uehara was a fun guy in his own right on a couple of bad Orioles teams but is also memorable for being the guy traded for Chris Davis and Tommy Hunter in 2011.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: author Washington Irving (1783), actress Doris Day (1922), Apollo 1 astronaut Gus Grissom (1926), anthropologist Jane Goodall (1934), and Iron Chef Cat Cora (1967).

On this day in history…

In 1888, the first of the 11 never-solved murders attributed to Jack the Ripper took place in London.

In 1922, Joseph Stalin was named as the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

In 1948, President Truman signed legislation authorizing the Marshall Plan, which at the time provided $5 billion in aid to help rebuild 16 countries after World War II.

In 1996, the Unabomber was captured at his cabin in Montana.

A random Orioles trivia question

I received a random book of Orioles trivia questions for Christmas. I’ve been asking a question in this space each time it’s been my turn this year. I skipped ones that were stupid or repetitive because I’m pretty sure this book was put together by some kind of AI generation with no real human oversight, so this is the final question for this feature for now:

Who was the first Oriole to win the AL MVP award?Bonus if you know what year.

**

And that’s the way it is in Birdland on April 3. Have a safe Friday. Go O’s!

The Detroit Tigers open their 2026 home schedule on Friday afternoon against the St. Louis Cardinals after starting the season with just two wins in their first six games.

That pair of victories came in the opening series against the San Diego Padres — the first two games of the campaign, to be exact — followed by a sweep at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks to make it four in a row coming back to Detroit. Hopefully, the Tigers can turn things around in their friendly confines.

If way-too-early stats are not your jibe, you can skip this part. So far, Detroit is 20th in batting average (.215) and on-base percentage (.296), 29th in slugging (.300) and 26th in OPS (.596) among fellow MLB squads at the plate. On the mound, the Tigers rank 12th in ERA (3.78), 16th in WHIP (1.32) and 18th in batting average against (.234) after six games played.

Taking the bump on Friday afternoon for the home team is left-hander Framber Valdez, who impressed fans in his debut against San Diego, while right-hander Michael McGreevy toes the rubber for the visitors after a tidy first game as well. Here’s a brief look at how they match up.

Detroit Tigers (2-4) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (4-2)

Time (ET): 1:10 p.m. ET
Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
SB Nation Site:Viva El Birdos
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 7: LHP Framber Valdez (0-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. RHP Michael McGreevy (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

VALDEZ

McGREEVY

Greetings, Brew Crew Ball community. The Brewers are off to a hot start, as they lead the division at 5-1 heading into their first road trip of the season. They’ll visit the Royals this weekend before taking on Caleb Durbin and the Red Sox in Boston to open next week.

Feel free to use this thread to chat about (almost) anything you want: video games, food, movies, non-baseball sports, the Brewers, you name it. As long as it’s appropriate and is allowed by our moderators, it’s fair game here.

You know the drill.

This is now an open thread:

Free of charge for the discerning reader.Happy birthday, Bobby Hill! And other stories.

Today in baseball history:

• 1901 – Connie Mack accuses Christy Mathewson of reneging on a Philadelphia Athletics contract signed in January. Mathewson had accepted advance money from Mack, but jumped back to the New York Giants in March. Mack considers going to court, but eventually accepts the loss of the young pitcher.
• 1919 – One of the most bizarre off-the-field incidents in history takes place in Jacksonville, Florida. New York Yankees outfielder Ping Bodie competes against an ostrich named “Percy” in a spaghetti-eating contest! Bodie wins the competition when Percy passes out after its 11th plate of pasta.
• 1923 – In Chicago, IL, two Black Sox sue the White Sox. Swede Risberg and Happy Felsch seek $400,000 in damages and $6,750 in back salary for conspiracy and injury to their reputation in the aftermath of the scandalous 1919 World Series court case. Their suit will be unsuccessful.
• 1984 – Arbitrator Richard Bloch rules that the Royals’ Willie Wilson and the Mets’ Jerry Martin can return to action on May 15th, the day their year-long suspensions for cocaine abuse are first due to be reviewed.
• 1985 – MLB Players’ Association agrees to expand the League Championship Series from five to seven games.
• 1987 – The Chicago Cubs trade starting pitcher Dennis Eckersley to the Oakland Athletics for three minor leaguers. Eckersley will emerge as the game’s dominant closer, saving 291 games over the next eight seasons.
• 2006 – The Chicago Cubs roll to their fourth straight opening day victory, 16-7, over a Cincinnati Reds team that can bring the president to town but can’t stop the Cubs’ run of first-game success. US President George W. Bush throws a ceremonial pitch at the invitation of new Reds owner Bob Castellini, one of his former ownership partners with the Texas Rangers. No current president had ever thrown an opening day pitch in Cincinnati, the traditional site of the National League’s opener. 

Cubs Birthdays: Alex Grammas, Bobby Hill*, Jason Kipnis.

Today in History:

• 1043 – Edward the Confessor crowned King of England.
• 1367 – An alliance of King Peter of Castile, Edward the Black Prince and John of Gaunt of England, Aquitaine, Majorca and Navarra defeats Count Henry of Castile in the Battle of Navarrete, fought near Nájera in La Rioja, Castile.
• 1860 – Start of the Pony Express, delivers mail by horse and rider relay teams between St Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California.
• 1882 – American outlaw Jesse James is shot in the back of the head and killed by Robert Ford at home in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Thanks for reading. À bientôt.

* pictured

Two series are in the books, and now it’s time for the Phillies to test themselves on the road. A three game set in Denver’s high elevation is lined up for this weekend. But first, links.

Phillies news

Should Kyle Schwarber return to the leadoff spot?

It’s early in the season, but not too early for some thoughts. ($)

Michael Baumann of FanGraphs recaps Andrew Painter’s debut. ($)

MLB news

Pirates prospect Konnor Griffin is set to make his MLB debut today.

MLB.com assesses each team’s most promising Minor League affiliate.

MLB’s official historian recounts the first Major League game, which happened right here in Philadelphia.

The Yankees are taking the field in Yankee Stadium for the first time this year today, and they’ll do so with a strong 5-1 record to their name after excelling on their opening road trip. The Miami Marlins are the first team they’ll welcome to the Bronx, and while their record is an identical 5-1, it’s safe to say that most people aren’t rating them in the same tier as New York.

Today on the site, Nick leads off with a series preview for our pitching matchups in this Marlins series. After that, Sam has the Rivalry Roundup featuring a Royals/Twins ringer appearance with most of the typical rivals off on Thursday. Jonathan wishes a happy birthday to one of the cogs in the late 50s championship contenders in Art Ditmar, Andrés gives us five takeaways from the Yankees’ dominant road trip, and later in the day I’ll be back to answer your latest questions in the mailbag.

Today’s Matchup

New York Yankees vs. Miami Marlins

Time: 1:35 p.m. EST

Video: YES Network, Marlins.tv, CBS Miami

Venue: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY

Questions/Prompts:

1. Which Yankee is going over the short porch first?

2. Which team has the most surprising record thus far?

In a 1940 publicity stunt, the Cleveland Indians’ flamethrowing pitcher, Bob Feller, tested which was faster: One of his own blazing deliveries, or a motorcycle. Feller’s pitching won, hands down. But today, Feller’s once-remarkable speed has become commonplace, even bettered, as major leaguers routinely pass triple figures on the radar gun. The secret to this arms race? The advances in pitching analytics,often authored by people without any previous baseball pedigree.

That’s part of the narrative of Unhittable, a new book by one such individual – Rob Friedman, more commonly known to his online followers as PitchingNinja. The book’s subtitle says it all: How Technology, Mavericks and Innovators Engineered Baseball’s New Era of Pitching Dominance.

This brave new world is tracked through methods such as heat maps, slow-motion cameras and AI. Those who chart this landscape use previously unheard-of terminology – among other things, readers will acquaint themselves with a precedent-defying phenomenon called Seam-Shifted Wake. All the while, stats gurus seek to quantify not just velocity but accuracy in how pitchers deliver the ball to the plate.

“It’s really changed through the years,” Friedman says. “[Baseball] used to be more focused on guys who were farm-strong but never lifted weights … [on the idea] you could not teach people how to throw hard, you were either born with it or could not do it.” Today, he says, “Technology brings out the best in everybody.”

Related: Former MLB umpire fears officials face humiliation by ‘computer geeks’ under ABS

Pitchers taking advantage of the wealth of analytics include last year’s National League Cy Young winner, Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Friedman is similarly upbeat about another young star, Nolan McLean of the New York Mets.

“My favorite guy to watch is … lesser-known,” Friedman says of McLean. “His stuff is absolutely nasty. I was happy that in the World Baseball Classic, the world got to see the movement of his stuff. He’s extraordinary, off-the-charts.

“Obviously, Paul Skenes I follow, I like, I root for him. Tarik [Skubal of the Detroit Tigers] is another guy. But Nolan McLean is not on the radar, even by some in New York.”

To quote Yogi Berra, is the rise in pitching talent deja vu all over again? Namely, are we seeing a return to 1968, when Denny McLain went 31-4 for the world champion Detroit Tigers, and Carl Yastrzemski led the American League with a .301 batting average? Friedman has thoughts on whether the cards are once again stacked against hitters.

“I’ve never said [the game is] too pitcher-friendly,” Friedman says. “My name is PitchingNinja. I love nasty pitching.” He calls baseball “the only sport in which the guy with the ball is technically on defense. The pitcher really is on offense. Guys will be reacting to what the pitchers do.”

In the modern game, Friedman says, “I do think pitchers have a big advantage. The question is, do fans want it the way it is?”

McLain’s opponent in the 1968 World Series, the St Louis Cardinals, featured the fearsome Bob Gibson, who was known for throwing triple-digit speeds. The book quotes Gibson about the toll that throwing 100 mph takes on a pitcher’s body: “Everything hurts. Even your ass hurts. I see pictures of my face and say, ‘Holy shit,’ but that’s the strain you feel when you throw.’”

Injuries to pitchers are on the rise. Does Friedman think that’s down to pitchers trying to throw as hard as possible these days? While he says there is “no agreement on why injuries happen,” he adds, “It’s just like a race car. You drive fast enough, you lose control. At some point, things break … Even Paul Skenes has backed off some,” lowering his velocity from 102 mph to 99 mph, “enough to get hitters out.”

Instead of just focusing on velocity, Friedman says, pitchers can also “focus on adding more pitches,” including through the practice of tunneling – developing multiple pitches that begin similarly before breaking in varying directions.

Before becoming PitchingNinja, Friedman was a lawyer. The nickname arose as a social media account; Friedman used it to share pitching-related videos and lessons. Interest surged to the point where he had to interrupt dinner with his wife to respond to a DM from five-time All-Star Yu Darvish. Another analytics expert who made it big, Daren Willman, first began sharing pitching information while he worked in software at a district attorney’s office in Harris County, Texas. The creator of the Baseball Savant website, Willman parlayed his passion into a full-time job with MLB, then into a similar role with the Texas Rangers, including during their World Series championship season; he’s now back at MLB.

“You don’t have to formally be in baseball or be a great baseball player to have an impact on the sport,” Friedman notes.

Speaking of outside-the-box thinking, that was the secret behind Nolan Ryan’s legendary speed, according to the book. It was the Hall of Fame fireballer who bucked longstanding baseball tradition to train with weights. The Ryan Express retired from a decades-long career with the all-time major-league strikeout mark.

“I don’t think he gets enough credit,” Friedman says, adding that in Ryan’s day, pitchers “did not weightlift, they thought weightlifting was a bad idea. He was one of the first to take to it, lifting throughout the season, which was maybe unique.”

Taking a macro approach, Friedman adds that Ryan’s career coincided with the “very cusp of when we started understanding more about technology – the computer revolution. We were able to digitize everything. In the 1990s, more of this came about, digging into data on what made pitchers more effective.

“Slow-motion cameras from Edgertronic showed thousands of frames per second of how balls left your hand. Everybody could have a radar gun … they were not ridiculously expensive, it was technology almost anybody could use.”

Friedman credits a more recent pitcher – Trevor Bauer – with a surge in interest in the analytics-minded approach to pitching. (Friedman writes that Bauer has had his share of controversy off the field, including a 194-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy. The book notes that Bauer was not criminally charged by authorities, and his treatment in the book focuses on his pitching.) Friedman writes that Bauer embraced analytics and explored training methods that were unpopular in baseball at the time: Long toss and weighted balls.

“He was not naturally talented,” Friedman says. “He was the poster child for that time period. He engineered himself into being a baseball player using available technology. I think he’s a good case study, a bridge to what we see today.”

Reflecting on the continuing debate between analytics and tradition, Friedman says, “Players with no formal engineering [background], who always played and were good, might ask, ‘Why are these weenies who can’t even pitch trying to tell me how to pitch, play, coach?’

“It goes both ways. Sometimes really smart people criticize players for not being open-minded. I don’t know if either side’s right. There needs to be a bridge to talk to everyone. All analytics are is more information.”

New York Post | Dan Martin: The Yankees created several questions with their offseason strategy to run it back with largely the same roster as last year, and their dominant first week of games has begun the process of moving the conversation away from those concerns. There were questions over how Ben Rice would hold up on both sides of the ball now that he is the full-time first baseman, and he has risen to the task on both fronts. Many wanted a more marquee upgrade to the starting rotation than Ryan Weathers with Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, and Clarke Schmidt missing the start of the year to injury, but the Yankees rotation has only gone and made history by allowing just two runs in the first six games. The bullpen has had some up and down moments but largely has followed the rotation’s lead. The left side of the infield remains a question with Ryan McMahon’s limp bat and José Caballero’s throwing miscues.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: David Bednar has been a stabilizing force in the closer role since being brought over last trade deadline. He secured three saves on the road trip and in general inspires a ton of confidence when he enters in the ninth — unlike several pitchers the Yankees have allowed to close games in recent years. He is loving his time in New York on a contending team — the one area that still requires the biggest adjustment, however, is navigating city traffic during his commute to the ballpark.

SNY | Phillip Martinez: The Yankees return home from their six-game road trip to host the Marlins in their Friday home opener. Martinez came up with five storylines for the upcoming series, starting with whether Aaron Judge will truly ignite his season after striking out at an elevated clip to open the year. How will Will Warren and Ryan Weathers do in their second starts — Weathers facing the team that dealt him to the Yankees. The Yankees shouldn’t take these Marlins upstarts too lightly, the offense scoring nine-plus in three straight games and pitchers allowing more than three runs just once this year.

The Athletic | Chris Kirschner ($): Yankee Stadium is offering a new slate of concessions and Kirschner provides his comprehensive review of the new dishes. Atop the list is an optical illusion dessert that looks like the famed chicken tender bucket but in reality is a cornflake-coated, drumstick-shaped ice cream. At the bottom of the list is a pinto bean empanada that is “an affront to empanadas.”

ESPN: ESPN released their first in-season power rankings and the Yankees sit in second behind the Dodgers. The pitching has been the driving force in the Yankees’ hot start, the team allowing a combined six runs across the first six games. The Dodgers’ superior offensive performances give them the slight edge, though the Yankees hold the upper hand in the standings and on the mound.

• Rangers have had 19 different goalscorers (excluding own goals) in the Scottish Premiership this season; since their promotion in 2016, only in 2023-24 (20) have they had more in a single campaign.
• Rangers are unbeaten in 12 league meetings with Dundee United (W8 D4) since a 1-0 defeat in August 2021.
• Dundee United have only won one of their past 22 league visits to Rangers (D4 L17), a 3-2 victory in April 2011 under Peter Houston.
• Dundee United have won two of their last three league games (D1), as many as their previous 11 beforehand (W2 D4 L5).
• Rangers have won 10 of their 12 home league games under Danny Rohl (D2), more than any other Scottish Premiership side since his first such match in charge in October.

SAN FRANCISCO — Devin Williams has kept drama to a minimum to begin his Mets career, but he knows there is room for improvement.

The Mets closer began Thursday without allowing an earned run — and yielding only one hit — over three innings in his first three appearances, striking out four and walking two.

“I’m getting good results, at least,” said Williams who did not pitch in the Mets’ 7-2 loss to the Giants. “I have some room for improvement with my command and my changeup and with my fastball, so I think just getting reps is going to help that.”

Williams pitched a shutout frame Wednesday in the Mets’ 2-1, 11-inning loss to the Cardinals.

Manager Carlos Mendoza noted there are no restrictions on Williams pitching back-to-back days this early in the season.

The right-hander began throwing a cutter in spring training but has yet to deploy it in the regular season.

“I’m in a good spot with it,” Williams said. “It’s there if I need it.”

Jorge Polanco is “close” to returning to play first base, according to Mendoza.

Polanco, who was the DH for the fourth time in seven games, has dealt with left Achilles discomfort in recent days.

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“Just wanted to give him an extra day [at DH],” Mendoza said. “He continues to feel better and progress. I might need that DH spot in the upcoming days for some other guys and that is why we’re taking advantage of the extra day here for him to DH.”

Mark Vientos started Thursday at first base for a second straight game.

The Mets began the day with 55 runners left on base, tied for the most with the Astros.

As a team, the Mets were 11-for-68 (.162) with runners in scoring position, ranking 29th in MLB.

The Reds were the only team worse in such situations.

This marks just the second time in franchise history the Mets played extra innings in three of their first six games. It last occurred in 1991.

Mendoza noted the strain it has placed on the bullpen, which needed to record 15 extra outs in the first week.