MLB analysis

Tactics · 3 min read

The arms race between pitcher and hitter

Every advantage one side of the matchup finds is answered by the other, and the sport's rule changes are mostly attempts to stop that spiral in a particular place.

Strategy · 3 min read

How bullpens took over the late innings

Nothing in the rulebook says a starting pitcher should leave in the sixth. A chain of small, individually sensible decisions got baseball there anyway.

Tactics · 3 min read

The quiet art of pitch sequencing

Any single pitch can be beaten if a hitter knows it is coming. Sequencing is the discipline of making sure he never quite does.

Roster building · 3 min read

Building a bullpen on purpose

A modern relief corps is not leftover pitchers who did not make the rotation. It is a designed unit with defined jobs, and treating it that way changes how teams are assembled.

Strategy · 3 min read

Why defensive shifts mattered so much

Moving fielders to where the data said the ball was going was one of baseball's simplest ideas and one of its most disruptive, which is exactly why the rulebook eventually stepped in.

Ballparks · 3 min read

Reading a ballpark before you read a box score

The same swing produces a home run in one stadium and a routine fly ball in another. Understanding why is the first step to understanding any number baseball gives you.

Roster building · 3 min read

The front office as a second roster

The players win the games, but the decisions about which players to have were made months or years earlier by people who never appear on the field.

Positions · 3 min read

The defensive spectrum nobody names

Not all fielding positions demand the same thing, and the informal hierarchy among them quietly shapes who plays where and how careers unfold.