Assuming that the season plays out and that the trophy for Most Valuable Player is awarded, then here is a quick look at that current favourites. Fernando Tatis Jr. The WAR leader has launched eight homers with 15 runs and
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Tag: Mike Trout
Investigating Sophomore Slump
This is Chris Gauthier’s debut article for Bat Flips and Nerds. He’s a college student and a Mets fan. If you’re a dedicated sports fan, chances are at one point or another, you’ve heard the term “sophomore slump,” referring to
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Los Angeles Angels 2020: Reasons for optimism
What happened in 2019? 2019 saw the Angels finish in fourth place in the AL West, with a 72-90 record, condemning the team to a fourth-straight losing season and regression from the previous two years that had seen them finish
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A decade of baseball in 101 useless stats
On Sunday 4 April 2010, Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Josh Beckett induced weak contact from New York Yankees Derek Jeter in the first MLB play of the decade. Here are 100 more useless snippets of information for you. Unless
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Who have been the second-half comeback kids?
After the dog days of the offseason, and then the seemingly never-ending schedule of meaningless Spring Training games, the regular season arrived and demanded the complete attention of the baseball world. By the end of April, the following was true…
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The Called First Pitch Strike – Why?
I have a few bugbears when I watch a game of Major League Baseball, I feel most of these are derived from the fact that I have never been taught how to play the game or faced something being thrown
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An Analytic Glance at the first “Half”
We have just started the second “half” of the MLB season. The reason for the air quotes is that the definition of half a season in MLB is determined by if a game was played before or after the All-Star
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Talk the Talk and Intentionally Walk the Walk
Intentional walks or base on balls have been around for a long time in baseball. Early on in baseball, the catcher could set up much further away from the plate than they can do know. They would receive four wide
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Early season stat leaders
You know that Christian Yelich and Cody Bellinger lead MLB with 16 and 14 home runs respectively. Without doubt, it is an incredible tally this early in the season, but you might not realise that Twins’ outfielder Eddie Rosario or
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Can We Play You Every Week
“Can we play you, can we play you, can we play you every week. Can we play you every week.” Those of you more familiar with British football will recognise this chant. It is one that the fans will sing
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