Stephen J. Nesbitt

What do good and bad Major League Baseball teams have in common? They go through a lot of arms. The Chicago White Sox and Miami Marlins have combined to use 79 pitchers this season. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers have used a combined total of 75. There are typically 13 pitchers on a roster at any time, and teams constantly cycle others in as they attempt to survive the marathon of the regular season. But the postseason is a sprint, and the circle of trust is much smaller. The 2023 Texas Rangers won the World Series leaning heavily…

Other rookie starters have accumulated more wins above replacement. But no one in recent years has been so hard to hit.

Since the league moved to the three-game Wild Card Series in 2022, the winner of Game 1 has won all 12 series.

Royals’ Maikel Garcia took offense to a tag applied by Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe on a sixth-inning double play.

David Fry put the Guardians on his back to force a winner-take-all Game 5, while the Yankees ousted the Royals to move onto the ALCS.

Before he was one of the nation’s most coveted play-callers, Kelly was a 35-year-old assistant at his alma mater, with Day as his QB.

Whether it is the way the Yankees and Dodgers added, or how the Guardians leaned on their strengths, these teams all have lessons to impart.

How much will it cost for a team to sign Sasaki? Why is he leaving Japan now? We answer these questions and more.

Many, many teams would want Soto. But how would he fit their rosters and budgets in the short and long term?

Skenes is the first NL starting pitcher to win the award since another flame-throwing righty, the New York Mets’ Jacob deGrom, won in 2014.