Tyler Kepner

3 days ago | nytimes.com | Tyler Kepner

Aaron Nola has delivered more than 4,000 changeups in his decade as a starter for the Philadelphia Phillies. Yet last week, as he watched Cristopher Sánchez bait the Miami Marlins with that pitch, Nola had to learn more. There are ordinary changeups, and then there are Sánchez changeups. “I was actually asking JT about it on the bench in Miami,” Nola said, referring to JT Realmuto, the starting catcher who was off that night.

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Tyler Kepner

Welcome to Sliders, a weekly in-season MLB column that focuses on both the timely and timeless elements of baseball. When a young pitcher joins the Tampa Bay Rays, he learns quickly that time is running out. If you think you’re invincible, this is not the place for you. “A lot of these guys don’t realize that, in reality, they have about five years to be as good as they can be,” said Kyle Snyder, the Rays’ longtime pitching coach.

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Jayson Stark |Tyler Kepner

Just when you thought we couldn’t possibly have more fun with our MLB All-Quarter Century Team than we’ve had so far … nope!We’ve made our picks for the starters on this team. You’ve made your picks. So what could get bigger or better than that? It’s time to announce the whole darned roster. That’s what. We should really be doing this standing at home plate … in St. Louis … or L.A. … or at Yankee Stadium. In prime time.

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Tyler Kepner

Boston is again the capital of the baseball world, history repeating itself yesterday when the Red Sox, who have never faltered in this great classic, defeated the Cubs 2 to 1. The Red Sox own the World Series in this century. - Boston Globe, October 29, 2018 - Boston Globe, September 12, 1918 History repeating itself. You would think the Boston Red Sox had learned something in the century between those dispatches. But here we are.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Tyler Kepner

The No. 1 strikeout pitcher in Major League Baseball is the Washington Nationals' MacKenzie Gore, a tall, slender left-hander who is shaped roughly like the number 1. He wears No. 1 on his back, too, but not as a status symbol or ego boost. Actually, it's the opposite. "I was the smallest player my freshman year in high school," said Gore, who is now 6 feet 2 and 193 pounds.