Posts by Shane Ryan

  • PitchCraft: Felix Hernandez, King of the North(west)

    What makes perennial ace Felix Hernandez so darn good? As you’ll learn in this week’s PitchCraft U lecture: pretty much everything.

  • PitchCraft: Jeff Samardzija, the Accursed Ace

    Remember when Felix Hernandez won the Cy Young in 2010 with a 13-12 record, and we were all like, “Wow, the Mariners are really, really terrible,” and it helped the last stubborn holdouts understand how useless the “win” was as a measure of pitching performance? Well, now we have Jeff Samardzija, the Chicago Cubs pitcher who makes Felix Hernandez look like Stan Bahnsen.

  • PitchCraft: Masahiro Tanaka, Yankee Split King

    In his first year in America, Tanaka has lived up to the hype and then some, racing out to a 6-1 record with a 2.39 ERA. At 25, he has become the most valuable player on a team weighed down by awful contracts and aged (not even aging, anymore) stars.

  • PitchCraft: Johnny Cueto, Master of the Mix-Up

    A GIF celebration of the Cincinnati ace.

  • Mythbusting: Martin Kaymer Beats Jordan Spieth at the Players Championship

    In the past year, Spieth has played in a President’s Cup, finished second at the Masters, and become the Great Hope of a sport that, frankly, has been reeling since the Tiger mythos was shattered.

  • The Best, Most Devastating Pitches of the Year: A GIF Roundup

    There’s nothing like a devastating pitch, whether it comes in at 101 mph in a roughly straight line, or swoops in slowly with diagonal parabolic action. It satisfies on both a visceral and aesthetic level.

  • Pitchers’ Duel Diary: Yu Darvish vs. Sonny Gray

    Darvish is far and away the most interesting player to track in terms of pure variety: He has eight pitches that he throws with some regularity. Gray, who was called up in the middle of last season, is best known as the youngster who outdueled Justin Verlander in Game 2 of last year’s ALDS.

  • Bubba and Jordan at Augusta

    What sets Jordan Spieth apart is the total, unflinching composure he shows in public — he’s like an ultra-polished golfing Übermensch dreamed up at a PR think tank. Whereas Bubba Watson is golf’s Kenny Powers.

  • The Uncensored 2014 Masters Power Rankings

    It’s April, which means that for the first time since last August, the Average American Sports Fan is ready to pay attention to golf.

  • Gators at the Threshold

    All this group has known is heartbreak; large second-half leads that vanished against Butler and Louisville, and a surprising drubbing at the hands of Trey Burke and Michigan. This group has one more shot. And, on paper, it looks like the best shot.

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