It’s kind of funny. The Braves have already lost their chokehold on the NL East. They’ve lost four straight, and when combined with the Nationals winning three in a row, Atlanta’s NL East lead is down to just half a game. Hell, Washington now has the better run differential. Then again, we expected this […]

Earlier, we looked at five players that have been surprises in the early stages of the 2014 season. The other side of the coin, of course, is those who haven’t come close to meeting expectations. In at least a couple of cases, such struggles could be costly in terms of free agent value after the […]

With the first month of the 2014 MLB season checked off, it’s natural to take a larger view and see if anything unexpected has emerged. Success in April doesn’t necessarily translate to sustained success over 162 games, of course. But it is interesting to see which players are having potential breakout seasons. A month from […]

This week was actually kind of…unremarkable for long home runs. Well, minus a personal favorite of mine, of course. 1. Juan Francisco vs Junichi Tazawa, 467 feet (April 26th) For reasons I can’t quite rationally explain, Juan Francisco is one of my favorite players in all of baseball. He tends to do this a lot […]

After getting swept this week in Miami and getting outscored 23-7, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez is wondering about the Marlins possibly stealing signs from his club. “If you would have taken a look at our dugout at one point in the game, it was like the fourth or fifth inning, they were hitting balls everywhere, […]

A doubleheader here, a doubleheader there…the torrents of rain that smashed the northeast this week forced numerous games to be postponed, and we had three doubleheaders on Thursday – two split (Dodgers-Twins, Rays-Red Sox) and one traditional (Pirates-Orioles). And the funny thing is, all three ended with sweeps – two by the road team, as […]

Happy days are here again – it’s time to discuss the best and worst players of the first month of the 2014 MLB season. As usual, there were several standout performers you never expected, and several stars that fell flat. AL Best Hitter of April – Jose Bautista. With all due respect to Mike Trout, […]

This week’s best defensive plays of the week feature players crashing into walls, players getting awkward, and players unveiling cannons. April 24th, Twins vs Rays – Desmond Jennings keeps the Rays alive. Ninth inning, one out, runner on first, Rays down two…Desmond Jennings kept Tampa Bay in the game with this fantastic basket catch, complete […]

I hate to get all depressing, but rain was once again a factor on Wednesday night. This time, several teams didn’t even bother starting – four games were postponed before a pitch was even thrown or a fan had been let through the gates. While this does completely suck, we’ll get a break with *three* […]

Every year you’ll hear it, especially if you root for a losing team.  “It’s only April!” echoes through the blogosphere in an effort to reassure fans that a teams fortunes will turn around.  Still, a slow-start in April could cripple a team’s hope for the playoffs, no matter how well they perform in May-September.  These […]

At this point, the formula for building a perennial contender on a small-market budget is well-established: build around a strong core of young players and have a continuous supply of talent coming from the minors. That minor league talent can be used in any of a number of ways; it can supplement the big league […]