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Across the league, players are experiencing the benefits of brisker ballgames, thanks to the pitch timer, which has cut down on dead time and returned the sport to its old rhythms.

Beyond the obvious reduction in average game time, what the timer has done is reduce the variance in game times. What this means for the players is more postgame visits from their families in the clubhouse, earlier dinner times and a better sleep schedule.

“It makes me smile, and it makes everybody else smile when you see the kids coming in,” Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff said about his 2-year-old daughter Kyler being able to stop by more regularly. “That’s my favorite part of these quicker games.”

Watching live, Vlad Jr.’s double looked like your average hit. But after viewing it in slo-mo, you can see he made contact with the ball twice on the swing.

Unable to field a ground ball cleanly, A’s first baseman Ryan Noda made up for it by flipping the ball through his legs for the No. 1 spot on Top Plays.

It happens every year. Dominant relief pitchers emerge throughout the Major Leagues, some out of seemingly nowhere, to provide critical production for their teams.

There were three home runs of 450-plus feet with at least a 114 mph exit velocity on Monday, the most on a single day tracked by Statcast (since 2015).

Bills quarterback Josh Allen can throw the deep ball, and he showed during batting practice in Toronto that he can crush some long balls, too.

Join Mark DeRosa, Robert Flores and Lauren Shehadi for MLB Central, weekdays on MLB Network at 9 a.m. ET. 

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