How a batting stance change sparked Judge's incredible run
Throughout his emergence as the most prodigious power hitter since Barry Bonds, throughout multiple historic home run seasons, Aaron Judge set up in the batter's box more or less the same way -- with the same "open" style of batting stance.
He had the open stance in 2017, when he...
Aaron Judge
The 3 ways Yamamoto looks like a Cy Young contender
One of the most dominant pitchers in the Major Leagues takes the mound in the Pirates-Dodgers series opener Friday night. Oh, and Paul Skenes does, too.
Just kidding, obviously -- Skenes is dominant. But his opponent Friday, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, is pitching like a Cy Young frontrunner. The Skenes-Yamamoto showdown lined...
Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Tatis is playing like a superstar again. Here's what changed
Fernando Tatis Jr. is looking as good as ever. For the first time since his 42-homer, 25-steal season in 2021, the Padres right fielder is playing like the superstar we saw when he took the Majors by storm in his early 20s.
After missing all of 2022 due to an...
Fernando Tatis Jr.
8 rebound candidates off to promising starts
While every player aims to start the season on the right foot, those coming off disappointing campaigns face an extra layer of urgency early on.
The high-profile names below have been able to turn the page in a hurry, offering hope that last year’s underwhelming results were merely a blip,...
Nolan Arenado
Chris Bassitt
Adolis García
Kevin Gausman
Paul Goldschmidt
Jorge Polanco
Adley Rutschman
George Springer
No pulled fly balls? No problem for this unique slugger
James Wood has all the traits of a prototypical power hitter. He’s big (6-foot-7!), he’s strong and his bat speed is electric.
The Nationals outfielder has the numbers to match, too, with seven homers, three doubles and a .929 OPS over his first 20 games this season, making good on...
James Wood
How an old-school pitch went from ridiculed to back in fashion
These days, every season seems to have a trendy new pitch: the high-spin four-seamer a while back, the sweeper two years ago, the splitter last year, the kick change this year ... presumably some kind of knuckle-fastball next year, if Justin Martinez has anything to say about it. That tells...
After 2024 breakout, Hunter Greene taking it to a new level
Is Hunter Greene reaching his full potential? The early returns in 2025 are encouraging.
Long on the baseball radar -- he was a two-way star at a California high school before the Reds took him No. 2 overall in the 2017 Draft -- Greene broke out last season with a...
Hunter Greene
3 reasons to get hyped for Strider's season debut
All eyes should be on Spencer Strider on Wednesday. Baseball's No. 1 strikeout artist is back.
Just over a year after internal brace elbow surgery ended his 2024 season, Strider will make his 2025 debut for the Braves. His start against the Blue Jays in Toronto will be MLB.TV's Free...
Spencer Strider
Meet the 90 mph pitch that can move like a knuckleball
Here’s where we are with the state of pitching in 2025: Let’s bring up a pitcher who throws two different fastballs that both have 100 mph velocity but with slightly different movement patterns. But we're mostly going to ignore those heaters, because neither is the pitch that makes him stand...
Justin Martinez
The young Angel doing a peak Mike Trout impression
There’s an Angel at the top of the Wins Above Replacement leaderboard, but it might not be the player you expect.
Doing his best Mike Trout impression -- or is it actually an Aaron Judge impression? More on that below -- Kyren Paris has taken baseball by storm, hitting an...
Kyren Paris
