A couple of weeks ago, I was listening to a podcast show and a starting pitcher indicated that pitchers need enough time in spring training to build up pitch counts. This year, the spring training was 4 weeks long. And, I was just wondering whether a 4-week spring training wasn’t enough for MLB pitchers.
A few weeks ago, I chatted with a friend when I was watching a spring training game and a Japanese player had a hit in that game. In Japan, the Central League is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute the NPB. In the MLB, three Japanese players each played for a team in the NL Central in the 2022 spring training.
It’s been two weeks since the Opening Day. Each team already played 10+ games so far and normally a starting pitcher already made 2 or 3 starts. This year, it was 4-week spring training and a starting pitcher usually made around 2 to 4 starts. But, some pitchers didn’t pitch well in this short spring training.
In mid-March, the Oakland Athletics sent All-Star third baseman Matt Chapman to the Blue Jays and acquired 4 players from the Blue Jays. So far in the 2022 season, Chapman is hitting .229/.325/.429 with 2 home runs and 7 RBI. It might be still too early to tell whether the trade is a win-win one for both teams. Looking back at the last 10 years, there are other important trades between the A’s and the Blue Jays.
A couple of weeks ago, I was browsing on a sports card shop website. I found one product, which looked pretty interesting. There were 7 packs of baseball cards inside, however, you don’t really know what you would receive until you open it. I decided to give it a try. And, I found some packs with the 2021 Topps Heritage. Opening some packs, a 2020 World Series Game 5 card truly made me think about a question.
It’s been a week since the Opening Day. Due to the lockout, spring training and the regular season were delayed. Normally, spring training is for players to prepare for the new season and great performance in spring training doesn't guarantee a player’s success in the regular season. However, some players just didn’t hit well in spring training this year.
2022 Topps Heritage brings us back to 1973 and it’s not a bad idea to add some cards from this set to the collection. Last month, I bought some packs of the 2022 Topps Heritage in a sports card shop, trying to find some cool rookie cards.
The 2022 season has already begun. This season, there are several changes such as universal DH and nine-inning doubleheaders. Additionally, the playoff format has changed as well. This year, there will be 12 playoff teams.
The 2022 MLB Opening day is just around the corner. These days, I have watched several spring training games. And I saw some pitchers who frequently used sliders in a game and those sliders generated swings and misses. Additionally, I listened to a podcast show and a pitcher was interviewed. That pitcher told the host that his slider is not a swing and miss slider.
A couple of weeks ago, I listened to a podcast show. In the show, a pitcher was interviewed by the host. That pitcher indicated that his four-seam fastball is a weapon and, in particular, it’s quite effective to locate his four-seamer in the top.
Before a baseball game starts, managers have to set the lineup. Managers need to place a player in the right spot to score more runs. I was just thinking about the production of the batting order. From the first player in the lineup to the ninth player in the lineup, which team did perform well last year?
