Chad Jennings

2 days ago | nytimes.com | Chad Jennings

What a week it’s been — and not in a good way. Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale was in the ninth inning of another dominant start when he came off the mound to make a diving play and fractured his rib cage. Baltimore Orioles All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman was taking batting practice, strained his oblique, and landed on the IL for the first time in his career.

3 days ago | nytimes.com | Chad Jennings |Aaron Gleeman |Tim Britton

One side effect of MLB expanding the playoff field to 12 teams in 2022 was a big decrease in obvious trade deadline “sellers” and a big increase in the murky middle, where even sub-.500 teams can see a path to October — even if they aren’t necessarily incentivized to push all of their chips into the middle as “buyers.” With roughly five weeks until this season’s July 31 trade deadline, 21 of 30 teams began this week with playoff odds above 20 percent, according to FanGraphs, and more than...

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Levi Weaver |Tim Britton |Chad Jennings

By Tim Britton, Chad Jennings and Levi WeaverEvery week,​ we​ ask a selected group of our baseball​ writers​ — local and national — to rank the teams from first to worst. Here are the collective results. As we near closer to the season’s midway point, it feels like a good time to check in to see how each team is stacking up against expectations going into the 2025 season.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Chad Jennings |Brendan Kuty

BOSTON - The memories still hit like a catcher's mitt to the face. Last Friday, during the season's first matchup between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, Boston's NESN broadcast showed a 21-year-old clip of Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek smacking Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez in the mouth, a home plate brawl that still resonates from Brookline to the Bronx. "Ah, the good old days," former Red Sox infielder Lou Merloni said on the broadcast. "That was a moment, wasn't it?"It sure was.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Chad Jennings

The robo-umps are coming, and the players have concerns. Commissioner Rob Manfred announced last week that the automated ball-strike system (ABS) could be implemented in Major League Baseball as early as next season. Manfred is planning a proposal to employ the challenge system previously used in the minor leagues and in spring training. Major League players are conflicted - at best - about the potential change. "Taking away the human element would ruin baseball," one pitcher said.