Travis Sawchik

1 week ago | thescore.com | Travis Sawchik

NORTH PORT, Fla. - As Spencer Strider waited in pre-op for his second major elbow operation last April - five years and six weeks after his first - he wasn't entirely sure what surgeons would do to the inside of his right arm. The Atlanta Braves pitcher felt discomfort last spring, so he consulted with several surgeons and radiologists about the best path forward regarding his damaged ulnar collateral ligament. Several recommended a second Tommy John surgery without hesitation.

2 weeks ago | thescore.com | Travis Sawchik

In about 20 years, if all goes well, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will have a statue unveiled outside Rogers Centre. By then he could hold every major offensive record in club history, and perhaps even a World Series ring. That's the dream with the 14-year, $500-million deal Guerrero struck with the Toronto Blue Jays, one of the most consequential transactions in club history. The hope is he becomes the signature player in the franchise's history.

2 weeks ago | thescore.com | Travis Sawchik

Major League Baseball has an incentives problem. You're acutely aware of it if you follow a small or medium-sized market club. Even some large-market clubs - hello, Seattle - seem ambivalent about on-field results. As the season began last week, there was again talk of salary caps to restore competitiveness balance - or at least the perception of it.

3 weeks ago | thescore.com | Travis Sawchik

The biggest takeaway from the opening weekend of the MLB season? The New York Yankees unleashed what appeared to be a secret weapon with their so-called torpedo bats. Given the attention they received, they're not a secret anymore. The bats are unusual in how the mass gets distributed. The barrel looks straight out of candlepin bowling since there's less width at the end of the barrel and more in the bat's center. The idea is that this lowers and lengthens the bat's sweet spot.

4 weeks ago | thescore.com | Travis Sawchik

DUNEDIN, Fla. - Plan A, Juan Soto, didn't materialize in Toronto. But unlike a year ago when they missed out on Shohei Ohtani, the Jays aggressively pivoted to Plan B. The front office and ownership can, at least, say they did something at a time when many fan bases suffer through winters of little activity. Only the Mets, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks spent more on players this offseason than the Blue Jays. But it's one thing to execute a plan in the offseason.