I read that the Angels spend a lot of money on players contracts but when it comes to spending on analytics they are very cheap. What does that mean ? Are analytics that expensive ?

Watching the Rays Vs Mets I saw a player in the outfield repeatedly looking at what I think was a laminated piece of paper or card. What would this be for? Information on players on the opposite team?

I just read that the White Sox just traded for him. I was looking at his baseball reference page just now and from what I can see, he has not been a decent player in MLB since 2019. Yet, he still gets several opportunities by multiple big league clubs to perform for them. Is he just an awesome clubhouse guy that brings positive vibes to every team he plays for? Or what is it about this guy that he keeps getting opportunities?

I see a lot of discussion about how many teams are looking for OFs who bat right-handed, but they're in short supply. I can't think of a reason why a team would specifically need an outfielder who bats right-handed. Is it because they need OFs who throw right-handed? If so, why?

I get that only the best and most experienced are asked to work in the playoffs and World Series. But is there a game that is considered particularly prestigious for an umpire?
For example, in the championship series and World Series, you’re guaranteed to work in the first four games. So is being chosen to work these games a greater honor?
Or is being chosen for game 7 for example more prestigious, because even though it’s not guaranteed that there will be one, getting to work in the final and deciding game of the season is a greater honor?

Should I feel guilty for just getting into Baseball and rooting for the Rays, I always liked there old school logo and am not a huge fan of the 2 Texas teams

In basketball there's a trope of older "washed" players going to play in countries like China (basketball is really popular there), where they can get the bag while also dominating the local competition with minimal effort. It even became a running joke that anytime a player had a really bad playoff performance or has been generally considered to have "fallen off" that they'll be in China next season.

Is there any baseball equivalent to this? I know countries like DR, Japan, and Korea are really into baseball. Any former MLB players making it big in any of these countries?

Just what the title says. Any baseball history folks who would know this?

This is the first season I have followed (as an adult), from the very beginning. I don’t know how the post season shakes out well enough to be confident in my picks above. What do you think?! Any picks of your own??

MLB: Betting on baseball threatens the integrity of the sport. We have maintained one of the harshest anti-gambling rules in American sports for over a century.

Also MLB, 2026: Please welcome our Official Prediction Market Exchange Partner™.

I understand that prediction markets and sportsbooks are legally/regulatorily different products.

But if I’m putting money on whether an MLB event happens and getting paid when I’m right, I’m gonna need somebody smarter than me to explain why the integrity concern changes because we renamed the plumbing. 🌝

Hello everyone,

If I'm correct, tagging is enough when the runner you tag is NOT in force play right?

So please why is the catcher below trying to tag him? Since there was an attacker on 2B isn't the 3B runner in force play thus the catcher should've had his foot on the plate?

https://youtu.be/ksxHAgrA3xU?t=480

Do they move with the team? Do they stay where they are? Do they just disappear? Do they change affiliation to the next-closest team?

EDIT: Yup I meant Catcher* in place of receiver, my bad

Hi folks,

When learning baseball, we get a lot of focus on the " Pitcher vs Batter" duel, as it's the main event of mindgames.

However, I just noticed how many times the pitcher communicates with the receiver who seems to give him instructions on what pitch to go for and until now I think I saw only Ohtani clearly nodding to refuse instructions given.

So my question is: To what extent is the Receiver really the "maker" of this duel? Is the pitcher just the skilled arm of the "Brainmaster" receiver?

Is it common for pitchers to disagree with their receiver? Are the receivers just advisors to the pitchers?

Thanks

Philles played Cardinals yesterday, Phillies came back during an amazing final innings to tie the score with two outs. Kyle Schwarber steps up to the plate with a runner on first or second (I forget which). Why did they not do an intentional walk? Surely he was the most dangerous Philly to face at that point?

When I want to check my team's schedule / stats for recent games I usually just Google my team's name and it has a decent amount of info. However, I wish it listed who the WP/LPs are and if a closer was awarded a SV. Is there a better place to check for individual game stats that has this or do I just need to infer it by looking at the pitching stats?

Say someone has an average of like .236 and an OPS of .798.

When that person is at the plate and I read the stats I can conceptualize in my mind “this person gets a hit 23.6% of the time” based on their average, but how should I interpret their OPS number?

I understand what OPS is and what a good one is I think, but should I be thinking along the lines of “there’s a 79.8% chance that he’ll get on base or slug this”? That doesn’t seem correct but not sure how to interpret it literally besides “this guy is a good hitter or not”.

I’m new to mlb and made a female player who was a beast who retired with 800 HR but could that actually happen irl? Could a woman realistically make the big leagues and survive like in the game because I’ve only seen women play in women baseball leagues.

There was a Yankees game a few months back where they put in a 4th outfielder, and that made me wonder: why is there more infielders than outfielders?

Excluding the pitcher and catcher, there are 7 fielders in modern baseball. In the infield, it makes sense there would be a fielder for each base. But what's the thinking behind having a fourth fielder in the infield called the shortstop? Likewise, why is the prevalent thinking that the outfield can be divided into three parts for three fielders, and not, say, four parts for four fielders?

Or do some with extreme talent remain in the Japanese leagues? Like I’m trying to understand if mlb is seen as the main goal or can Japanese league players stay in Japan and still make tons of money?

I often see baseball fans of many different teams complaining about their bullpens. It's not just the bad teams either. I've seen Yankees, Dodgers, Rays and Phillies fans all dread seeing certain relievers from their bullpens come into the game. For example, a starter might go 7 innings but then I will see a lot of fans in the comments basically mentally prepare themselves for the bullpen to blow the game. What is the formula for teams to have a solid bullpen?

I know the thinner air at Coors makes the ball carry farther and affects how much certain pitches break, but does the altitude actually make pitching more physically exhausting too?

Are pitchers getting tired faster or having a harder time recovering because of the lower oxygen?

I’ve always heard that Coors is a nightmare for pitchers but I’m not sure how much of that is physical vs just the way the ball behaves

We’ve all seen it, some umps are just notoriously bad at their jobs. Some umps will make two very different calls for the same play. Some umps will toss a coach or manager for no reason at all (see the Astros-Angels game last night). Some umps continually calls balls as strikes waaaay outside the zone.

Do teams/coaches have any recourse after the game? Are they able to file complaints against unfair/bad umps?

Furthermore, are bad umps help at all accountable? Are they forced to go through any kind of remedial training or are they pretty much just untouchable?