Game 41: Twins at Guardians – And a Book Club Recommendation You Can't Miss
First pitch is set for 12:40 PM CDT, with a new anthem every week! You can catch all the action on Twins.TV or tune into the Treasure Island Baseball Network. For those digging deeper, the folks at Covering The Corner have you covered.
After a whirlwind trip to Washington, D.C., I made it back to Minneapolis last night. I'll have some stories and photos to share soon, but right now, I want to talk about something every baseball fan needs on their reading list.
If you've been following the game lately, you've noticed the shift: pitchers are dominating like never before. Batting averages are dropping, contact is harder to come by, and strikeouts are climbing. In Unhittable, Rob Friedman—better known as PitchingNinja—breaks down exactly how and why this revolution happened. It's a masterclass in what makes today's arms so lethal.
The book weaves together two compelling narratives. First, Friedman dives deep into the tech and analytics reshaping pitching. We're talking about Driveline programs, Edgertronic cameras, Rapsodo, TrackMan, and Trajekt—tools that let pitchers fine-tune every movement and maximize velocity while protecting those golden arms. Even for a die-hard fan, some of the physics concepts like seam-shifted wake and pitch tunneling might feel intense, but Friedman makes it all fascinating. He argues convincingly that modern pitchers are as much scientists as they are artists.
The second thread is pure baseball history. Friedman traces how pitching used to be taught through "feel" and vague concepts, with weight training often discouraged. Then pioneers like Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan, guided by the unorthodox Tom House, shattered that mold. Unhittable shows how we got from there to today's game, where every pitch is a calculated weapon.
Whether you're a casual fan or a stats junkie, this book is a must-read. It's the perfect companion for a long bus ride or a lazy afternoon at the ballpark. And hey, it might just inspire your next gear upgrade—because if the pitchers are getting smarter, shouldn't your apparel keep up?
Stay tuned for more from the diamond, and happy reading!