MLB Articles - Page 886

Currently positioned at the third-best team in the National League Central division as the end of June grows closer and closer, the St. Louis Cardinals are keeping their postseason chances close enough to still see for now – but not close enough to actually grasp. Having just found out that their fireballer closer Jordan Hicks […]

It didn’t take long for Craig Kimbrel to make his debut with the Chicago Cubs. After being called up for the final game of the Cubs’ series against the Atlanta Braves at Wrigley Field, Kimbrel made an immediate impact. He came into the game in the ninth inning and recorded his first save with the […]

Needing the rest of the 2019 season, plus both of the 2020 and 2021 seasons, to be completed before his contract is up, Zack Greinke seems to be pretty locked in as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks for the foreseeable future. Having signed a monster six-year, $206.5 million deal in December of 2015, the […]

Major League Baseball is often dominated by big-market teams. Organizations like the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees are constantly in a spot of advantage because of their ability to expand their payroll and show indifference to the luxury tax. Which is why, oftentimes, squads like the San Diego Padres need to stockpile young […]

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been the best team in baseball heading towards the Midsummer Classic in Cleveland, OH. Entering play on June 26, the Dodgers had the best record in the majors (55-26) while also leading all big league teams in run differential (an astounding +131). With the club on pace for a ridiculous […]

A common topic of trade talk for what feels like the past few seasons, right-handed starting pitcher Marcus Stroman is seemingly on the trade block again, as the Toronto Blue Jays are still in a rut of trying to compete but not having the necessary pieces to do so. In a crowded American League East […]

Leaving the hopes and dreams of a professional baseball team to make the playoffs up to one player is somewhat normal, especially if that one player (Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, etc.) means that much to that franchise. But for a team’s hopes to rest on the shoulders of two players, who are at vastly different […]

Struggling to find their way again, the Milwaukee Brewers have been absolutely taking hit after hit in terms of their postseason goals. While having an other world performance by Christian Yelich yet again this season, combined with Mike Moustakas looking to make the All-Star team for the first time as a member of the National […]

The date is April 10th. The Chicago Cubs have just lost a game to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-2. This marked eight losses in their first 11 games. Doubters seemed to forget that there was 151 games left following this meaning loss to the Pirates. The Cubs went on to win 22 of their next 28 […]

Ever since he burst onto the scene as a rookie contributor for a San Francisco Giants team that won their first World Series title in 56 years in 2010, Madison Bumgarner has become one of the faces of the franchise in the Bay Area. In 11 years with the Giants–including this season–Bumgarner has pitched to […]

The Tampa Bay Rays have been one of the best teams in baseball in 2019. With a 43-31 record, the Rays are in second place in the American League East, an figure to battle for a berth in the postseason. Given that they play in one of the most notable divisions in the game, it […]

Just when it seemed like the Boston Red Sox were on the verge of busting loose, they have merely held water in the American League East. The Red Sox have climbed back above .500 and were 40-35 entering play on June 19, but they have hardly gone on that kind of run that seemed to […]

The New York Yankees are starting to get healthy which is a dangerous thing for baseball. Didi Gregorius and Giancarlo Stanton have returned to action. Aaron Judge is rehabbing in Scranton with the Triple-A ball club. Missing a chunk of their starters for a good part of the season did not bother the Bombers. They […]

Last week, we covered some of the most overshadowed players in the National League. This week, we turn our attention to the American League. Of course, the most dominant players in the AL in recent years have been Mike Trout and Mookie Betts. Trout is in the midst of another fantastic season, while Betts has […]

Currently, the American League is situated with three divisional leaders that most pegged to be holding down the top spots at this point in the season. With the Yankees holding a slim advantage in the East, the Minnesota Twins being a big surprise by running away with the Central and with the Houston Astros on […]

Every year, there are teams from both the National League and the American League who exceed expectations and make much more noise than everyone figured they would. While not always making the playoffs at season end, their names are at least in the running all the way up to the end, so at least they […]

As per usual, the American League in the MLB is looking like the more impressive league out of the two, spoiled with talent and youngsters that are making waves through the sport of baseball. While the powerhouses, like the New York Yankees and Houston Astros, are mowing down their competition, the likes of the newcomer […]

For the majority of this 2019 MLB season, two players have come to define excellence in the National League: Christian Yelich and Cody Bellinger. What Yelich and Bellinger have done thus far has made them clear-cut frontrunners for the MVP award, and they have dominated headlines in the process. But in a league as competitive […]

Javier Baez has become one of the most dangerous bats in baseball and that was on display once again against the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday afternoon. The Chicago Cubs have been handing it to the Rockies all afternoon and Baez added to that with a massive home run that he smashed and admired. If you […]

Even with as much success as these teams have experienced so far in 2019, there are always instances in which players need to move on, regardless of how good the situation is. For the likes of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies and the tied Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers, each of these National League […]

The Kansas City Royals went into the 2019 MLB Draft looking to find some impact players for the future. While the draft is never a guarantee, they have to feel good about the players they were able to get. One of those players, third-round Oregon State pitcher Grant Gambrell, has the potential to be a […]

Entering MLB play on June 10th, the Milwaukee Brewers boasted the highest amount of home runs hit in the National League with 114, which puts them in first in the NL, ahead by 12 over their divisional counterparts, the Chicago Cubs. 114 leaves them in third place in all of the MLB, slotting in behind […]

The Toronto Blue Jays went into the 2019 MLB Draft looking to find pitching talent and they were able to do just that in the first and second rounds of the draft. They took West Virginia right-hander Alek Manoah with their first-round selection and backed that pick up with IMG Academy’s Kendall Williams in the […]

Ryan Garcia may not be a household name for Texas Rangers fans, but he certainly has the potential to become one at some point in the future. Drafted in the second round of the 2019 MLB Draft at No. 50 overall out of UCLA, the right-hander is ready to get to work for his new […]

After the long-standing wait for All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel and starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel to finally choose their new MLB teams ended with the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves, respectively, getting his services, there are teams who were in on both players that now have to figure out what Plan B-Z looks like. The likes […]

If I told you that the active leader in saves and the career leader in ERA+ who was coming off of a 42-save season in 2019 remained unsigned in early June, would you have believed me? Craig Kimbrel’s incessant offseason demands for a long-term, lucrative contract in free agency put him in this position, but […]

September 8, 2017, was a very unfortunate and early end to the Milwaukee Brewers playoff hopes. September 8, 2017, also marked the early end to the season for starting pitcher Jimmy Nelson due to a serious injury while sliding back into first base. Well on his way to putting together his best season in his […]

Joe Maddon and the Chicago Cubs have worked their way into the upper echelon of contenders in the National League. That was even before the big news that broke yesterday afternoon. Theo Epstein and the Cubs went out and agreed to a three-year deal with superstar closer Craig Kimbrel. It was a move that was […]

The first two months of the 2019 season have concluded, which means the regular season is nearly 40 percent complete (crazy, right?). Whereas April can provide a number of pleasant and unpleasant surprises, May often separates the contenders from the pretenders as teams around the league prepare to dive headlong into the summer months. From […]

This past winter was one of more volatile offseason battles between team owners and the MLBPA. Executive director Tony Clark was vocal about his displeasure with the amount of players that remained unsigned as Spring Training arrived, as well as the sheer lack of long-term contracts being handed to players not named Manny Machado or […]

The Chicago Cubs have reached an agreement with free agent closer Craig Kimbrel, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic: BREAKING: #Cubs in agreement with free-agent closer Craig Kimbrel, pending physical, sources tell The Athletic. — Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) June 6, 2019 Multi-year deal for Kimbrel with #Cubs, source tells The Athletic. — Ken Rosenthal […]

With the conclusion of the MLB Draft on Wednesday, plenty of reporters have speculated that there would be increased bidding for free agent pitchers Craig Kimbrel and Dallas Keuchel. Both players have compensatory first-round draft picks attached to their name, but those compensation picks are dead and gone as the first round has already concluded. […]

The likes of Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Walker Buehler, Kenta Maeda, and Cy Young candidate Hyun-Jin Ryu have been sparkling for the Los Angeles Dodgers, helping push the California franchise into first place in the National League West division. Sporting a healthy 9.5 game lead over the second-place Colorado Rockies, not even having lost 19 […]

Being on top of the National League Central division after a hard-fought start to their 2019 season, the Milwaukee Brewers are looking to keep up their recent stretch of dominant play, having won four of their last six games. Having had Keston Hiura fill in at second base was an added bonus for this team, […]

The Chicago Cubs signed veteran outfielder and former superstar Carlos Gonzalez to a minor-league a short while ago and officially called him up to the big leagues this afternoon. In his debut, Gonzalez made his presence felt immediately. With the bases loaded, Gonzalez made an insane diving catch to save multiple runs. For those of […]

As has been a defacto result the past few seasons, the sport of baseball has been run by the American League, winners of the past two World Series and 10 since 2000. While the National League has presented some formidable competition to battle, both in interleague play and the World Series, the AL still reigns […]

Having dealt with some interesting parity to open up the 2019 MLB season, the sport of baseball is in full swing as the month of May closes to an end. The National League divisional leaders, Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East, Chicago Cubs in the Central and Los Angeles Dodgers in the West, all have […]

It is safe to say that the 2018 Boston Red Sox will go down as one of the greatest teams in baseball history. After winning a franchise record 108 games in the regular season and watching Mookie Betts become the American League MVP, the Red Sox went 11-2 in the playoffs and romped their way […]

The Chicago Cubs got off to a rather inauspicious start to their 2019 campaign. Firstly, the team had one of the quietest winters in years while National League Central foes like the St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds all made improvements to their clubs. The Cubs–who made the biggest splashes of the winter […]