Willians Astudillo is a big fellow. Round. Built like a very short nose tackle. And he is a catcher, the most grueling position in baseball. As much as any baseball player naturally wants to score a run, it would not surprise me to learn that any catcher standing on first base is not exactly hoping that a ball sliced…
Jackie Bradley Jr. has been having a truly nightmarish season at the plate. The kind you tell your kids about, the kind that would otherwise warrant a player riding the bench for much of the year. We’re talking about a .182/.279/.297, four-dingers-through-65-games sort of season. But his defense is insane enough to…
Less than one year ago, Twins slugger Miguel Sano was busy bonking baseballs out of the yard and looking like one of the best young sluggers in the league. He hit .276/.368/.538 to go along with 21 homers in the first half of 2017, which was good enough to make him an All-Star for the first time at age 24. Things…
Minnesota Twins starter Kyle Gibson didn’t get the win in his seven innings of shutout work Tuesday night against the Royals—the final score was 2-1, Kansas City, in 14 innings—but he did get another opportunity to show off his glorious slider, a strikeout pitch that’s been better at getting swings and misses this…
Twins second baseman Brian Dozier was a few inches short of a dinger in his first at-bat against the Tigers Wednesday afternoon, but pulled off a much more unique feat instead. Dozier’s long drive to center field wedged itself perfectly between two of the outfield wall panels, suspending the ball in the park and…
The gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic men’s curling team stopped by Thursday’s Minnesota Twins game to throw out the first pitch, and boy were their deliveries crummy. The combined efforts of (from left to right) Joe Polo, John Shuster, Tyler George, Matt Hamilton, and John Landsteiner resulted in one respectable…
In December, a Minnesota photographer said that Twins third baseman Miguel Sanó assaulted her after a photograph signing at a store where she volunteered. According to her account, which she posted on Twitter, Sanó first flirted with her during the signing and afterward grabbed her wrist and tried to force a kiss on…
Unless you have a strong love of beefy minor-league catchers and/or guys who spent six years in the Phillies’ farm system without making it to Double-A, there’s no good reason for you to have heard of Willians Astudillo. Or, at least, there wasn’t until yesterday—when he pulled off this beautifully sneaky pickoff…
Spring training is now well underway, and baseball’s many overqualified free agents are still shuffling their way onto MLB teams on below-value contracts. Lance Lynn, a very fine pitcher with a strong track record of success, found his way onto the Twins Saturday:
Women in sports journalism are now telling their stories of assault and harassment in their workplaces. There have been women speaking out about working at ESPN, NFL Network, and Fox Sports. But there’s no reason to think the behavior is contained only to national networks or certain media enclaves. Today,…
The Minnesota Twins, who were informed earlier this week that they are out of contention to sign Shohei Ohtani, made the best of the mayhem by swiping two top-10 prospects from the Mariners and Angels, two teams reportedly very much still in the mix to get the Japanese superstar.
Cleveland and Minnesota became the latest teams to say that they’ll extend the protective netting at their ballparks before next season, joining a slew of other clubs that made similar announcements after a young girl suffered bleeding on the brain from being struck by a ball at Yankee Stadium in September.
Did you stay awake for the entirety of last night’s Twins-Yankees game? Are you still feeling the pain this morning? Last night’s game was good, and featured great plays, great action, and a stunning performance by the Yankees bullpen. It was also way too fucking long, and was a good reminder that October baseball is…
No team plans on their starter getting knocked out after just one out in a deciding playoff game, but no team is as prepared for the possibility as the Yankees, who showed off their considerable strengths in a wild, interminable 8-4 win over the Twins to advance to the ALDS.
Luis Severino has been the best part of the Yankees’ rotation this year, leading the team’s starters in ERA (2.98) and FIP (3.07) and strikeout rate (10.71 per nine innings). He’s forced more ground balls than almost anyone else (more than half of his contact) and allowed fewer home runs (fewer than one per nine…
You may have checked out of baseball once your team’s season turned into a trash heap, but that’s okay! You’ve come back just in time for the best month of the year, as all the highest-stakes games with top-quality talent begin. Here’s a guide to the AL players you need to pay attention to as the postseason begins.
Last night the Detroit Tigers did something cool: Manager Brad Ausmus moved utility man Andrew Romine around all nine defensive spots, including pitcher and catcher, making Romine just the fifth player in major league history to pull it off:
