Sports

Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports After an extended, chilly winter, it’s a welcome sight to have groups again on the sector this spring. The recreation’s greatest stars are getting again into their rhythms, some heated place battles are underway, and — most significantly, in fact — new knowledge is pouring into websites like FanGraphs. Caution is at all times suggested when evaluating gamers primarily based on their spring coaching statistics, however we are able to nonetheless study loads from what occurs in these exhibition video games. One of the most secure locations to start out is with a metric that gamers (pitchers, on this case) have probably the most management over: velocity. Most statistics are contingent on circumstance, making them much less dependable, notably this time of y...

Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports When free agent Matt Chapman signed with the Giants this previous weekend, most of my evaluation centered upon the ups and downs of his 2023 season and the character of his contract, which seems comparatively crew pleasant. One factor I underplayed within the evaluation was the extent to which San Francisco’s winter stands out relative to the competitors. Even earlier than the addition of Chapman, the Giants had spent extra money on free brokers than some other crew moreover the Dodgers, and likewise venture to obtain extra WAR from these additions than any crew moreover their longtime rivals. Based on the information in our Free Agent Tracker, the Giants have now dedicated $261.25 million in assured salaries: $113 million to middle fielder Jung Hoo Lee, $4...

Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports AJ Smith-Shawver began on Monday, and it went quite effectively: 10 batters confronted, 48 pitches, 32 strikes, 2 2/3 innings pitched, 5 strikeouts, one hit, one stroll, no runs allowed. The Braves misplaced, however the harm got here after Smith-Shawver left the sport, and at any price, spring coaching outcomes have much less of an impression on common season success than what signal the GM was born below. Justin Toscano, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s beat author, tweeted after the beginning that Smith-Shawver was “in a better place, physically and mentally, for whatever comes this season. You can see the improvement.” That’s thrilling information. The 21-year-old poked his head into the majors for the primary time in mid-2023; he threw 25 1/...

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports It’s been some time for the reason that Phillies have needed to fear concerning the entrance of their beginning rotation, which over the previous 4 seasons has been anchored by co-aces Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola, although final yr it was unsure how for much longer that stability would proceed: Nola grew to become a free agent on the finish of final season and Wheeler’s contract was set to run out after the 2024 marketing campaign. But Philadelphia acted swiftly to maintain each pitchers round. After re-signing Nola earlier than Thanksgiving, the Phillies introduced on Monday that they'd prolonged Wheeler by means of the 2027 season. The three-year deal is reportedly value $126 million, and when it comes to its $42 million common annual worth, it's the...

Daulton Varsho’s final two seasons had been directionally completely different than his first two seasons.The left-handed-hitting outfielder put up a pedestrian 37.8% pull price in 2020-2021, and in 2022-2023 that quantity climbed to a lofty 52.6%. Apprised of the marked leap by colleague Davy Andrews previous to my current go to to Toronto Blue Jays camp, I requested Varsho if it was spurred by a purposeful change of method. He claimed that it wasn’t. “I think it’s just how teams are pitching me,” mentioned Varsho, whose pull price within the two-year span was the highest amongst certified hitters. “You don’t want to force the ball to any certain field — it has to sort of naturally happen — and I’ve been getting pounded in. You also have to figure out the changeup away and righties t...