Major League Baseball

The prominent modifications include a return to larger lettering on the back of jerseys, remedying mismatched gray tops and bottoms and addressing the new Nike jerseys' propensity to collect sweat, according to the memo distributed to players by the MLB Players Association on Sunday.

Top-right is the high-performance quadrant, and bottom-left is the low-performance quadrant. The vertical axis measures batting, and the horizontal axis measures pitching.

The Cubs are hidden under the Rangers - they have the exact same scores. The Dodgers logo is by the Braves'. (I realize logo size isn't optimal)

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/14784702

Kirby carved his way through the D-backs for a career-high 12 strikeouts over seven scoreless innings on Saturday night at T-Mobile Park, lifting the Mariners to a 3-1 victory to clinch their fourth straight winning series.

Six days after Kirby felt minor arm soreness and departed after five scoreless innings and 88 pitches at Coors Field, he was in peak form -- and not just in the box score. Kirby came out firing his four-seam fastball harder than he has all season, generating seven whiffs among the eight total swings in the first inning, when he struck out the side exclusively on heaters.

From there, he was off and running. Kirby topped out at 99.3 mph, his fastest pitch of the year and strike three to Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and sat at 96.4 mph on the four-seamer, a healthy 1.2 mph uptick from his season average.

Velocity and whiffs have always been part of Kirby’s game, but never like this. And though the game plan with catcher Cal Raleigh called for a heavy dose of heaters, they doubled down once they realized what they were working with.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/14746052

Imanaga pitched into the seventh, improved to 4-0 through his first five starts for Chicago and headed off the hill with a 0.98 ERA. The lefty struck out seven and issued one walk, upping his ratio to 28 strikeouts against just three walks in 27 2/3 innings on the year.

As a result, Imanaga became the first Cubs starter to go at least 4-0 through the first five games of his career, and only the 37th pitcher to do so in AL/NL history. He is the first starter since 1945 (Boston’s Dave Ferriss) to go at least 4-0 with an ERA below 1.00 in his first five career games.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/14709502

The Rockies made an epic comeback Thursday afternoon, erasing a five-run deficit with a six-run eighth inning and stunning the Padres, 10-9, to earn a series split at Coors Field.

Colorado sent 11 men to the plate in the eighth inning, putting five hits and three walks together as San Diego’s bullpen imploded under the relentless assault.

“You never know how it's gonna play out,” manager Bud Black said of the dramatic turnaround. “That's why you stay to the end.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/14674171

Top five all-time

1. Vince Coleman, Cardinals -- 50 from Sept. 18, 1988, to July 26, 1989 Coleman was the Henderson of the National League in the 1980s, leading the senior circuit in steals each year from his rookie campaign in 1985 through his final season with the Cardinals in '90. He stole more than 100 bases each year from 1985-87 and swiped 549 of his career 752 bags while with St. Louis. From Sept. 1988 to July of '89, you just couldn't catch him. His 50-for-50 in steal attempts over that span is unmatched in AL/NL history.

2. Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners -- 45 from April 29, 2006, to May 16, 2007 On his way to becoming the second player in MLB history to win his league's Rookie of the Year and MVP Awards in the same year, Ichiro led baseball with 56 steals in 2001. He proceeded to swipe at least 31 bases in each of the next seven seasons, and in 10 of 11 overall. From 2007-08, he was unstoppable, taking 45 in a row without being thrown out. He finished his illustrious Major League career with 509 steals to go along with 3,089 hits and 10 Gold Glove Awards in right field.

3. Trea Turner, Dodgers/Phillies -- 41 from Sept. 6, 2022, to April 24, 2024 Turner is more than just style on the basepaths -- he's one of the fastest players in the game today, and he's stolen 30 or more bases six times in his career. One of the most dangerous power-speed threats in baseball, Turner has been exhibiting the speed element to his game prominently over the past couple of seasons. His successful steals streak began while he was with the Dodgers late in the 2022 campaign with a swipe of second base against the Giants. He remained uncaught until he was tagged out in a rundown between third base and home plate during the Phillies' 25th game of the '24 campaign.

4. Tim Raines, White Sox -- 40 from July 23, 1993 to Aug. 4, 1995 What makes Raines' consecutive steals streak even more remarkable is that he produced it in his age-33 through age-35 seasons. Already regarded as one of the greatest basestealers of all time, the Hall of Famer wasn't caught stealing for more than two years in the early-to-mid 1990s with the White Sox. After leading either the NL or MLB in steals each year from 1981-84 while with the Expos, he showed a decade later that the wheels were still robust, nabbing 40 straight before finally being thrown out. His 808 career steals rank fifth in AL/NL history. Get the Latest From MLB

5. Jimmy Rollins, Phillies -- 39 from Sept. 1, 2007, to July 19, 2008 Rollins grew up in Oakland watching his baseball hero Henderson running wild on the bases for the A's. Rollins took that skill and made it his own, stealing 470 bases during his 17-year MLB career. The four-time Gold Glove Award-winning shortstop was named NL MVP in 2007, and he was instrumental in helping the Phillies reach back-to-back World Series in '08 and '09. From late in the '07 campaign to midway through the '08 season, Rollins went 39-for-39 in steal attempts.