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Positional Reviews

Now is why the July trade market went bananas

The trades for high-leverage relievers such as Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, and Mark Melancon still have yet to reach their make-or-break point.

Handling The Marlins Infield Logjam

The Marlins have a glut of talented young infielders and a weak starting rotation. How can the team address their needs moving forward?

The current crop of Rockies pitchers is the most exciting in years

A successful Rockies pitching staff is most intriguing.

The 2016 homer bug has not yet bitten the Dodgers

The general increase in home runs across the board in MLB has avoided the Dodgers so far, despite one glaring change in their starters' batted ball distribution.

The Astros bullpen is really great despite the blown saves

The peripherals say they're elite.

A guide to the most watchable rotations: MLB

Enough with the divisions -- it's time to debate over who has the most exciting rotations in all of baseball.

How the Mariners put together a good bullpen

The 2015 Seattle Mariners had one of the least productive bullpens in baseball. Not anymore.

A guide to the most watchable rotations: NL West

Clayton Kershaw, Madison Bumgarner, and Zack Greinke in one division? Yes please.

A guide to the most watchable starters: NL Central

Which teams in the NL Central have the pitching staffs that are the most enjoyable to watch?

Black holes: the terrible positions of the past decade

Seeking patterns in which positions have most often been actively bad over the last ten years.

A guide to the most watchable rotations: NL East

Which teams in the NL East have the pitching staffs that are the most enjoyable to watch?

Mike Bolsinger should be in the Dodgers rotation

How does this guy not get a longer look and more attention?

Pedro Alvarez is the best choice to back up Tex

Greg Bird, the previous backup, is out for the season after undergoing surgery for a torn labrum.

Comparing the National League's fifth starters

Fifth starters generally don’t make or break a team, but several teams have an advantage at the back of their rotation. A look at the National League fifth starter projections.

The 2015 MLB All-Skinny Team

It's been long enough since the last major signing that you're probably asking yourself all kinds of crazy questions about baseball. Was "who was the skinniest player at each position in 2015" one of them? If so, the answer awaits!

How teams can implement the next phase of bullpens

The rise of the super-bullpen should give teams more options in deploying their elite relievers. Here's how that can be done.

Baseball's best relievers visualized

In this concluding post that reviewed players by position, relievers will receive the close scrutiny to see which are delivering value--and which aren't.

Pitchers can no longer hit

Through the first two weeks of the season, hurlers have stunk up the plate. Will the trend go away?

Which teams could use an opener?

The opposite of a closer is an opener. Which 2015 teams could benefit from using one?

Which league has better defenders at first base?

A question we've all asked ourselves.

The DH in the NL: NL Central

How adding the DH to the NL would impact the teams in the central division.

The DH in the NL: NL East

If MLB wants to increase offense, the most obvious way to do it would be to adopt the designated hitter in the National League. Here's how it would affect the NL clubs, starting with the East.

Rise of the bullpen: Paying middle relief

Free agent relievers are getting paid like never before, even if they haven't yet closed games. It won't be long before non-closers are getting extended before they reach free agency. What will these contracts for the best bullpen arms look like?

Starters aren't the only ones pitching fewer innings

It's well known that starters are taking on smaller workloads than in previous seasons, but the same also applies to relievers.

The decline of the traditional 21st Century slugger

The men who dominate the home run leaderboard nowadays aren't your dad's sluggers. Or even your older brother's.

Pitchers just don't hit like they used to

With the exception of Babe Ruth pitchers have never been known for hitting well, but things are getting worse and worse in recent years.

Baseball's hardest throwing bullpen

The Royals cadre of flamethrowers has received a lot of attention this postseason, but they weren't baseball's hardest-throwing bullpen.

The San Francisco Giants don't throw fastballs

The solid majority of pitches thrown in baseball are fastballs, but the Giants have a different way of going about their business.

Can you win with losers?

Wins and losses may be the bottom line in baseball, but could a rotation of the biggest losers in baseball be effective?

The top pitch framers, by battery

How much is the pitcher, as opposed to the catcher, responsible for getting extra strikes through pitch framing? We need not answer that question in looking at a list of top framing tandems.

The Yankees infielders can't hit

The Yankees knew they had some holes in the infield going into this season. Just how bad has it been for the Bronx Bombers?

Baseball's best right fielders

The last in a series reviewing players by position.