The idea manifested a couple of years ago. Chicago Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon wanted to tweak his slider to create more sweeping action, but abnormal offseasons leading into 2020 and ’21 thanks ...

SAN FRANCISCO — Randy Rodríguez didn’t need to tweak his slider. The pitch was performing well; Rodríguez was, too. But as April gave way to May, Rodríguez didn’t like the state of the pitch. There ...

During a three-start stretch in late June, righthander Ryan Murphy allowed a combined 10 earned runs in 12.1 innings for Low-A San Jose. His ERA ballooned from 2.48 to 3.80. The 21-year-old Murphy had ...

BALTIMORE — It wasn’t all that long ago that Luis Gil looked like an All-Star. Heck, the rookie had even thrown himself into the conversation to start the Midsummer Classic after recording a 1.82 ERA ...

MIAMI—Added to the 40-man roster in November, righthander Drew Steckenrider may be oh-so-close to the majors, but nobody can accuse him of big-timing things. For instance, when he turned 26 in January ...

Matt Manning has taken a step forward in his development this season. He went to the injured list after two starts for the Detroit Tigers in April and tried to come back in late May only to suffer a ...

Shortly before big-league camp broke three weeks ago, Chicago Cubs pitcher Ethan Roberts tried using a new grip for his slider. The suggestion came from assistant pitching coach Daniel Moskos. Given ...