Stats

It's been said, by no less an authority than the great Ted Williams himself, that hitting a baseball is the single most difficult thing to do in sport.

And Mr. Williams never even had to face Matt Harvey.

MLB stat lines distort in bizarre directions while the season is young. Due to small sample sizes, slugger Rick Ankiel and several other prominent players have posted fascinating numbers in 2013 that you wouldn't believe.

Is it possible, for example, that a starting infielder literally never walks? And can a veteran pitcher ride his unsightly walk total to an All-Star selection?

Inevitably, these outliers will normalize, thus making our experience a bit less enjoyable.

Who's the hottest pitcher in the majors? There's Yu Darvish, the Texas Rangers right-hander who nearly threw a perfect game his first time out. Or maybe it's Atlanta Braves lefty Paul Maholm, who is 3-0 and has thrown 20.1 scoreless innings.

If your stat line reads four home runs in four games to start the season, that’s good, right? Well, it doesn’t if that stat line is pitcher John Axford’s stats after his first four appearances in the 2013 season.

Friday's 1-0 loss to the Cleveland Indians might be as worse as it gets for Chicago White Sox fans this season—or this may only be the start. 

It's not often a starter can go seven innings, give up one hit and end up without a victory, but White Sox starter Jose Quintana felt that pain Friday.

You might've heard Bryce Harper's season got off to quite a start.

The Washington Nationals outfielder—whom many consider a Most Valuable Player candidate in only his second season and at the ripe old age of 20—smashed a pair of homers in the season opener.

In the 2012 MLB season, 27 different players hit 30 or more home runs. Only one team, the Los Angeles Angels, had three players appear on that list: Mark Trumbo (32), Albert Pujols (30) and Mike Trout (30). It was the first time since 2000 that three Angels players topped the 30-HR mark in a season.

Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay has been one of the majors' best pitchers in the past decade. Unfortunately, his 2012 season mirrored the Phils' '12 campaign as the team dropped from 102 wins in 2011 to 81 last year. Halladay struggled with an 11-8 record and an ERA of 4.49 (his 11 wins were the fewest since he had eight in 2004; his ERA was the second worst of his career).

The New York Yankees have chosen to fill their designated hitter slot in the lineup with a combination of several low cost options in 2013, and who gets the bulk of at-bats will likely be decided in spring training.

Spring training, the time of year when jersey numbers like 68, 75 or 83 are commonplace.

Spring training, the time of year when fans are mesmerized by 420-foot bombs, but then have no idea who hit them. Or, they watch a pitcher breeze through the heart of the order by striking out the side, then rack their brains, wondering where the heck did that guy come from?