History of Changes in the MLB, Impact on the Game, & Future Outlook

For over 155 years, there has been a form of organized baseball being played in the United States. Baseball Reference provides the public with league, team, and individual player stats back to 1871, and observing trends over time can reveal the impact of changes that occurred by direction of Major League Baseball, the geo-political landscape, […]

Roster Construction, 2023 Playoffs, & The Making Of a Winner

In the 21st century there are plenty of ways for teams to acquire players to fill up their 26-man & 40-man rosters. As time has gone on, teams are using more players throughout a season than in previous decades and there are essentially seven ways for a team to acquire players: Given budgetary constraints, managing […]

Top 100 prospects, trade value, & revisiting 2015

Each year MLB Pipeline evaluates all the prospects in baseball and publishes a ranked list of the top 100, top 10 by position, and top 30 by team. Heading into 2024, Jackson Holliday of the Baltimore Orioles leads the list. In 2023, the list was headlined by Gunnar Henderson at #1 & Corbin Carroll at […]

Stolen Bases & contributions to player value

In 2023, players across the league successfully stole 3,503 bases, the greatest total since 1987. Much of the increase can be attributed to rule changes that took place last season, limiting the number of times a pitcher can throw over to a base, and making the bases larger. Where this past season stands out in […]

Pitching in Japan, The NPB to MLB Index, & Future Stars

Baseball was first introduced to Japan in 1872, by professor Horace Wilson, who taught the game to students at Kaisei Academy in Arakawa, Tokyo. In 1934, an All Star Team of MLB legends, led by the likes of Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, and Jimmie Foxx went to Japan for an exhibition tour of Japan, where […]

League Production, Player Value, & The Pareto Principle

2023 was a year of adjustment for much of the league with several rule changes being implemented, including the pitch clock, defensive shift limits, larger bases, and limits to pitcher-batter disengagements. The league quickly adjusted and offensive production was up in nearly every category. In 2023, there were 22,342 runs scored (+8.8% YoY), 21,512 RBIs […]

The Hall of Fame, very good, & underserving

The National Baseball Hall of Fame was established in 1939, in Cooperstown, New York as a way of preserving the history of the game. The first class of Hall of Famers were inducted in 1936, and the first ceremony was held in Cooperstown in 1939, and all living members were invited. Since 1936, the BBWAA […]

Starting Pitching, Strikeouts, & The End of the Complete Game

In today’s game starting pitchers rarely go the distance anymore. The days of the ‘finish what you started’ mentality are behind us. Starting pitchers are not pitching as deep into games any more and rarely pitch into the later innings. A lot of this can be attributed to a shift of focus to pitch counts […]

Player Value, WAR, & Most Valuable Players

Throughout the history of our game there has always been debate on how to evaluate players. Every single player to step foot in the batters box, or deliver a pitch from 60 feet-6 inches away has a unique background, playing history, and are physically different, yet we try to use the same stats to compare […]

The Path To Hardware: ROY, Cy Young, & MVP

Award season in Major League Baseball is always a bittersweet time of year. The playoffs have concluded and there is a long wait until pitchers & catchers report for spring training. As the Hall of Famer and 2x MVP Rogers Hornsby once said “People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. […]