Tanner Bibee and 19 others win Gold Gloves

Game of the Night: Obregon 3, Guasave 4 (LMP, 8, walk-off)

• Drama Index 4.04 ★★★★★ · 2 lead changes · 8 innings · peak leverage 7.11 (bottom 8th)
• Top WPA: Jesus Castillo +0.63 (batter) · Adrian Hernandez +0.25 (pitcher) · Yosshel Hurtado +0.22 (pitcher)
• Bottom WPA: Efrain Contreras -0.30 (pitcher) · Victor Labrada -0.27 (batter) · Jose Cardona -0.25 (batter)

Watch: Gameday (MLB.com)

Stat Lab Fundamentals · Lesson 1: The count: balls, strikes and the plate appearance

Balls first, then strikes: a 3-2 count means three balls and two strikes, and one more pitch can end the plate appearance either way. In 692 plate appearances in 2026, Yordan Alvarez drew 109 walks and struck out 120 times.

The idea. Every plate appearance begins at 0-0 and is tracked as a count, balls first: 2-1 is two balls and one strike. A ball is a pitch outside the strike zone that the batter does not swing at. A strike is a swing and a miss, a pitch in the zone that is not swung at, a foul tip the catcher holds, or a foul ball while the batter has fewer than two strikes. Four balls send him to first base on a walk; three strikes make a strikeout, and he is out.

The math. Balls run from 0 to 3 and strikes from 0 to 2, so there are 4 × 3 = 12 different counts. The count 3-2, the full count, is one pitch from either ending. Now take Yordan Alvarez’s 2026: of 692 plate appearances, 109 ended in a walk and 120 in a strikeout, so 229 ended without the ball being put in play, 33% of the total. The other 463 ended some other way: a ball in play, a hit by pitch, a sacrifice. And 125 did not count as at-bats.

The scale. A batter ahead in the count, with more balls than strikes, can wait for a pitch he likes. A pitcher ahead can throw one outside the zone and see whether the batter chases it. Credit for working the count well shows up in on-base percentage: Yordan Alvarez’s was .432 in 2026, against .318 for the league.

What it doesn’t tell you:

• A foul ball is a strike only until there are two strikes. After that it leaves the count alone, so a batter can foul off pitch after pitch at 3-2. The exceptions are a foul bunt and a foul tip the catcher holds: with two strikes, either one is strike three.
• A strikeout is not always an out. If the catcher fails to hold the third strike while first base is open, or with two outs, the batter may run to first. The pitcher still gets the strikeout.
• An intentional walk is signaled without a pitch, and a batter hit by a pitch also takes first. Neither is an at-bat, so neither lowers a batting average.

Try it. Keep the count aloud for one inning of the next game you watch, balls first, after every pitch.

Go deeper: MLB Glossary: strike zone · MLB Glossary: walk · MLB Glossary: strikeout · MLB Glossary: plate appearance

News

• Yankees’ Cody Bellinger wins second Gold Glove as Mets’ Nolan McLean earns historic honor — Yahoo Sports
• Glew – BWDIK: Cosentino, Estrada, Hicks, Melvin, Pivetta, Sabrowski — Canadian Baseball Network
• Yankees news: The Bombers look for help as free agency opens — Yahoo Sports
• Wilson: Plenty of Calgary connections to World Series-winning Brewers — Canadian Baseball Network

Transactions & Rumors

• Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, Franmil Reyes Agree To Four-Year, $40MM Contract — MLB Trade Rumors
• Details On The Astros’ GM Search — MLB Trade Rumors