Several months into his tenure as the Toronto Blue Jays’ new manager, Charlie Montoyo sat in his office chair, discussing the series ahead against the San Francisco Giants. Montoyo’s office inside Rogers Centre is small and tidy, devoid of clutter. An autographed Andrew Katz painting of Herman Oliveras, Montoyo’s favoriteRead More →
Andrew Friedman had high hopes for his Tampa Bay Rays bullpen in 2014, but it struggled. He worried about the group of Los Angeles Dodgers relievers he took into 2017, but they were a revelation. In five years as the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, Friedman has experienced a fairRead More →
The absurdity of Cody Bellinger’s ascendant season reached what felt like an apex on the night of May 27, when the Los Angeles Dodgers’ budding superstar came to bat for the fifth time. Moments earlier, in the top of the eighth inning, Bellinger thwarted a New York Mets rally byRead More →
The Washington Nationals hit four consecutive home runs in the eighth inning Sunday, becoming the first franchise in major league history to accomplish the feat multiple times. With the score tied 1-1 and one out in the eighth, Howie Kendrick, Trea Turner, Adam Eaton and Anthony Rendon hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back homersRead More →
Youth and inexperience have been among the driving forces behind the New York Yankees’ early-season success. They’ve also, at rare moments, been the source of some of the Yankees’ troubles. So consider the Bronx Bombers’ rawness both a blessing and, as they learned in ‪Sunday night‬’s series finale against theRead More →
Adley Rutschman heard the chatter for months that he’d be the No. 1 pick in the Major League Baseball draft. The switch-hitting Oregon State catcher just kept slugging at the plate and throwing out would-be base stealers all season from behind it — making it an easy call for theRead More →
Some days, Michael Brantley thought the injuries were going to get the better of him, that they would zap what were supposed to be the prime years of his major league career. Brantley was the next big thing, the next blossoming star at the plate for the Cleveland Indians. HisRead More →
Dave Martinez’s theatrical exit brought life to Washington’s bats Thursday, sparking a late rally against the New York Mets. Nothing seems to be able to solve the club’s bullpen woes, though, and that has the Nationals’ second-year manager working from a wobbly seat. Martinez was ejected in the eighth inningRead More →
As the saying goes, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Certainly, this adage will get put to the test over the next few weeks as the recent spree of rookie call-ups has thrust several new names into fantasy’s collective consciousness. A quick perusal of theRead More →
This coming week has the potential to be the most important of the New York Yankees ‘ schedule. Feel free to consider that hyperbole. But it’s not. If by late September the American League East race and/or the wild-card chase end up coming down to the regular season’s final sevenRead More →