The Sunday Read: ‘How Analytics Marginalized Baseball’s Superstar Pitchers’
The Daily20 Apr 2025

The Sunday Read: ‘How Analytics Marginalized Baseball’s Superstar Pitchers’

One day at Wrigley Field in Chicago last May, Paul Skenes was pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates, carving out a small piece of baseball history in his second big-league game. He struck out the first seven batters he faced. By the end of the fifth inning, he had increased his strikeout total to 10. More impressive, he hadn’t allowed a hit.

Over the past two decades, analysts have identified a treasure trove of competitive advantages for teams willing to question baseball’s established practices.

Perhaps the most significant of competitive advantages was hidden in plain sight, at the center of the diamond. Starting pitchers were traditionally taught to conserve strength so they could last deep into games. Throwing 300 innings in a season was once commonplace; in 1969 alone, nine pitchers did it. But at some definable point in each game, the data came to reveal, a relief pitcher becomes a more effective option than the starter, even if that starter is Sandy Koufax or Tom Seaver — or Paul Skenes.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Avsnitt(2756)

The Life and Legacy of Jimmy Carter

The Life and Legacy of Jimmy Carter

In 1976, after the Watergate scandal and the country’s withdrawal from the Vietnam War, American voters elected Jimmy Carter, a Washington outsider who had served one term as governor of Georgia, to t...

30 Dec 202440min

The Sunday Read: ‘Ozempic Could Crush the Junk Food Industry. But It Is Fighting Back.’

The Sunday Read: ‘Ozempic Could Crush the Junk Food Industry. But It Is Fighting Back.’

For decades, Big Food has been marketing products to people who can’t seem to stop eating, and now, suddenly, they can. The active ingredient in new drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound mimics a na...

29 Dec 202428min

The Sunday Read: ‘My Goldendoodle Spent a Week at Some Luxury Dog ‘Hotels.’ I Tagged Along.’

The Sunday Read: ‘My Goldendoodle Spent a Week at Some Luxury Dog ‘Hotels.’ I Tagged Along.’

By the time Sam Apple pulled up with his goldendoodle, Steve, to their resting place, he was tired from the long drive and already second-guessing his plan. He felt a little better when they stepped i...

28 Dec 202421min

The Year in Music

The Year in Music

As 2024 comes to a close, critics, reporters and editors at The New York Times are reflecting on the year in arts and culture, including music.Today, The Times’s pop music critics Jon Pareles, Lindsay...

27 Dec 202433min

The Year in TV & Movies

The Year in TV & Movies

As we approach the end of 2024, critics, reporters and editors at The New York Times are reflecting on the year in arts and culture, including television and film.The Times’s chief television critic J...

26 Dec 202424min

Joni Mitchell Never Lies

Joni Mitchell Never Lies

In 2022, seven years after surviving a brain aneurysm that left her unable to sing or even speak, Joni Mitchell appeared onstage at the Newport Folk Festival. Singing alongside her were her supportive...

25 Dec 202433min

How a Skeptical Critic Came to Love Bad Christmas Movies

How a Skeptical Critic Came to Love Bad Christmas Movies

Hallmark Christmas movies are corny, predictable and just what our critic needed to embrace the holiday spirit.The story of how a big-city culture critic, Amanda Hess, found love where she least expec...

24 Dec 202428min

Could One Phone Call Lead to the 28th Amendment?

Could One Phone Call Lead to the 28th Amendment?

How President Biden could transform women’s rights and rescue his legacy with just a ring.Dozens of congressional Democrats have a simple pitch to President Biden: with a single phone call he can revo...

23 Dec 202428min

Populärt inom Politik & nyheter

motiv
p3-krim
spar
flashback-forever
rss-viva-fotboll
svenska-fall
rss-krimstad
aftonbladet-daily
rss-sanning-konsekvens
aftonbladet-krim
rss-vad-fan-hande
olyckan-inifran
dagens-eko
fordomspodden
rss-aftonbladet-krim
svd-ledarredaktionen
rss-frandfors-horna
rss-klubbland-en-podd-mest-om-frolunda
spotlight
blenda-2