Travis Sawchik

When the Red Sox won just two of their first nine games this year, it marked their worst start to a season since Ted Williams was flying F4U Corsairs with the U.S. Marine Corps. This early disappointment in Boston is amplified as this is a team with expectations, a club

Austin Hedges gave one of the more candid, and humorous, self-assessments in recent memory a few years back while with the Rangers. "I've kind of been in an offensive slump my whole career," Hedges quipped. But when the career .186 hitter stepped into the right-handed batter's box for his first

Justin Verlander is one of the few pitchers to have performed during the entire pitch-tracking era of Major League Baseball. He broke into the big leagues in 2005, which is well before Statcast debuted in 2015, and even before Pitchf/x began in '08. He once cruised. Earlier in his career,

MLB and the MLBPA held their first bargaining session on May 12 as both parties began working toward the next labor agreement. The CBA expires on Dec. 1. Competitive balance will be a focus during discussions, if not the primary issue. Here’s what you need to know about the state

Nick Martinez and Foster Griffin have been two of the better pitchers – and pitching stories – to begin this young season. Martinez owns a 2.29 ERA through his first 12 starts for the Rays, including gems like his April 22 outing against the Reds when he threw a season-high

Should the Tigers trade Tarik Skubal later this summer, he'd be the rarest type of difference maker available at the Deadline. The lefty became only the 12th pitcher to win back-to-back Cy Young Awards last season. Skubal returned from an innovative nanoscope procedure on Saturday in Cleveland, and allowed three

MLB outlined its vision of a grand bargain in a series of proposals made to the MLB Players Association over the past few weeks. Under the latest proposal shared last Thursday, which focused on the reserve system, the vast majority of players would earn more money, reach free agency earlier,

Ryan Johnson missed by nearly a foot. The Angels right-hander wanted to bury a cutter inside. Instead, he left the full-count pitch over the middle of the plate on Monday night.

The biggest names dominate Trade Deadline coverage, but championships are often won by the secondary moves. Most Deadline acquisitions aren't stars – they're platoon bats, middle relievers and fourth starters who solve specific weaknesses. They are the types of additions that can help a club today without sacrificing too much

The question seemed unthinkable a year ago: What's wrong with Paul Skenes? After posting sub-2.00 ERAs in each of his first two seasons -- the first qualified pitcher age 23 or younger to accomplish that since Dwight Gooden in 1984-85 -- Skenes enters his first start of August on Wednesday