Cardinals’ Willson Contreras shifting to DH, outfielder: What it means for his playing time - The Athletic

This is crazy. The team already has a thousand outfielders and has sometimes struggled to fit Nolan Gorman into the lineup. The last thing they need is to force another square peg into their lineup. Whoever was the decision-maker for the Contreras signing needs to be relieved of that responsibility.

When the Cardinals signed Contreras this offseason, they did so under the pretense that he would be their primary catcher. However, with the Cardinals reeling and the pitching staff struggling, manager Oli Marmol and the front office came to the conclusion that the rotation could benefit from some familiarity. Knizner will now catch the bulk of the starts, with Barrera serving as the reserve catcher.

MLB’s trendiest pitch, the sweeper, has its problems — but with familiar fixes - The Athletic

Eno Sarris also has an article on the pitch. He has some other naming examples. Non of them are slurve.

Eno also gets into the benefits and problems with the pitch.

If this isn’t enough, pitchers are also now throwing a gyro slider.

Good times.

The whirly. The hand of God. The sweeper. The slutter. The riding slider.

Baseball’s newest pitch has many different names, but mostly one form. It’s a slider that, because of the way the seams are placed, doesn’t drop as much as batters expect. The result is a very sideways breaking ball that hitters often swing under. Here’s a good example of a new one, added by Pablo López this season, and how batters often react to it.