The average Major League pitcher in 2023 stands 6-foot-3. The average Cy Young-winning pitcher, whether you go back five years or 10 years or all the way back to 2000, is 6-foot-4. The prototypical pitcher, and especially the prototypical power pitcher, is, well, tall. But arguably the two best pitchers...

Here’s our weekly look at 10 mind-blowing notes from the last week in baseball (May 25-31). Soto is back: Juan Soto’s home run at Yankee Stadium on Friday had a 114.1 mph exit velocity. That’s tied for the hardest-hit homer of Soto’s career, with one on Aug. 26, 2021. It...

A version of this story originally ran in January 2021....

Last year, Anthony Rizzo hit just .224, a career-low mark (excluding 2020). He did that while being shifted against on 83% of his plate appearances. He was, understandably, excited to learn that there would be limitations on shifts for the first time in 2023, saying, “I feel like I've been...

Baseball has always been a simple game. You throw the ball hard. You hit the ball hard. And sometimes, the ball is hit with such force that you can’t help but ask yourself, “Just how hard was that thing hit?!” Thanks to Statcast, we now know the exit velocity of...

The Nolan Gorman breakout, Part 2, is here, and he has his decision-making in the box to thank for it. Gorman is a smarter hitter today than he was a year ago. The Cardinals' 23-year-old slugger is making the same elite contact he was when he first got called up...

In 2021, the 102-loss Texas Rangers scored just 625 runs, the third-fewest in the Majors. (It was also the team’s fifth-lowest full-season mark in the decades since the Rangers arrived in Texas in 1972. It wasn't a great season.) In 2022, it was somewhat better if still not great, with...

Here’s our weekly look at 10 mind-blowing notes from the last week in baseball (May 18-24). For 300: Freddie Freeman hit a grand slam last Thursday for his 300th career home run, becoming the second player with a grand slam for his 300th home run. He joined Rubén Sierra on...

Jhoan Duran just popped the first 104 of the season on the radar gun. The flame-throwing reliever threw three pitches 104 mph or faster in the Twins' 7-1 win over the Giants on Wednesday afternoon -- including a high of 104.6 mph and a game-ending strikeout of Casey Schmitt at...

Bryce Miller's fastball is coming. It's coming right down Broadway. And you still can't hit it. Forget keeping hitters off-balance. Miller has overpowered nearly every batter he's faced in his first four big league outings. The Mariners' 24-year-old rookie right-hander has allowed only 13 baserunners in 25 1/3 innings, tied...