Kai-Wei Teng had a limited repertoire when he signed with the Minnesota Twins out of Taiwan in 2017. The right-hander from Taichung possessed just a fastball and a curveball. A lot has changed since that time. Now 27 years old and pitching for the Houston Astros, Teng attacks hitters with a five-pitch mix that includes a sweeper that is not only hard to hit, it is no fun to be on the receiving end of in catch-play.
“It’s insanely good,” Spencer Arrighetti told me last weekend at Fenway Park. “I throw a sweeper. Lance [McCullers] throws a sweeper. We have a couple of other guys who toy around with it. But Teng’s is incredible. Truly. I played catch with him, and it looks like a fastball for 48 feet, then takes a 90-degree left turn. Not all sweepers are created equal. Some of them are a little loopier and bigger, but his is 85 mph. I mean, it’s gross. It really is a great pitch.”
The numbers back that up. Teng has relied on his most-used offering 36.3% of the time this season to the tune of a .118 BAA, a .118 SLG, and a 27.9% whiff rate. His other numbers are impressive, as well. Over 14 appearances, Teng has a 2.35 ERA, a 3.83 FIP, and a 24.7% strikeout rate over 23 innings.
I asked Teng for the story behind his best weapon.
“I learned my sweeper in 2021, when I was in High-A,” Teng explained via interpreter Andy Lin. “I liked to kind of play with the baseball when I was in the bullpen, and one day I accidentally found a grip I really like. I thought, ‘Oh, I’m going to throw it tomorrow when playing catch.’ The very next day, I played catch with one of my teammates and the shape felt really good. At the time, we didn’t really have the name ‘sweeper,’ so we called it a slider. It wasn’t until 2023, when I got called up to Triple-A, that a coach was like, ‘This isn’t really a slider; it’s more like a sweeper.’”
As his teammate said, not all sweepers are created equal. Teng’s is averaging 16 inches of horizontal break, which is less than those thrown by numerous other hurlers, including Arrighetti. A sharp left turn with above-average velocity isn’t the only reason it plays up.
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“I didn’t realize that my sweeper and fastball had a great tunnel until last year, when I was with the Giants,” Teng told me. “I talked to our pitching coach, J.P [Martinez] and bullpen coach, GA [Gavin Alston], and I’ve also talked to Ethan [Katz], who is our bullpen coach here with Houston. I’ve asked them, ‘How come my sweeper sometimes doesn’t move as much as other sweepers, but it’s hard for batters to hit?’ They all had the same answer: It has a great tunnel.”
Which brings us back to how it can be challenging to catch. Telling Teng what Arrighetti had said elicited a smile. What it didn’t do is come as a surprise.
“This has happened throughout my career,” Teng replied. “When I was in High-A, Double-A, Triple-A, I had trouble finding a playing catch partner. They would always say, ‘Your throws are too nasty; I don’t want to play catch with you.’ Now I usually just play catch with a bullpen catcher.”
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RANDOM HITTER-PITCHER MATCHUPS
Bobby Cox went 10 for 15 against Gary Peters.
Ted Williams went 10 for 18 against George Caster.
Trea Turner is 9 for 15 against Carlos Carrasco.
Dale Murphy went 10 for 19 against Tim Lollar.
Chipper Jones went 10 for 17 against Julian Tavarez.
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The Chicago Cubs’ winning their 15th straight home game on Thursday — they began a road trip the next day — brought them to within three of the club record, which dates back to 1935. Notable in the almost-century-old accomplishment was that it was part of an overall 21-game winning streak in which the first 18 were played at Wrigley Field, and the last three on the road in St. Louis. In the long-ago days when teams travelled by train, home stands were typically much longer than they are now. Tthat iteration of the Depression-era Cubs certainly liked their home cooking: they went 56-21 at the Friendly Confines on their way to an overall record of 100-54 and a trip to the World Series. Heartbreak ultimately came at a visiting venue. The Detroit Tigers walked off a deciding Game 6 of that year’s Fall Classic courtesy of a Goose Goslin RBI single.
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The 1916 New York Giants might be the streakiest team in MLB history. The John McGraw-managed ball club rode a veritable rollercoaster over the course of the campaign. To wit:
They started the season 2-13, then proceeded to win their next 17 games, all of which were played on the road. In August, over another long stretch of road games, they lost 11 of 12. In September, they had a four-week stretch of home games in which they went 26-0 with a tie. That’s a record. No other team in MLB history has gone as many games without suffering a defeat.
The Giants ultimately finished in fourth place in the National League with a record of 86-66-3, having gone 47-30-1 at the Polo Grounds, and 39-36-2 away from home. They also parted ways with a legend. On July 20 of that year, Christy Mathewson was traded to the Cincinnati Reds, for whom he would pitch in just one game before retiring. The Hall of Fame right-hander had debuted with the Giants in 1900, then proceeded to win 372 games against just 188 losses.
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A quiz:
Greg Maddux has the most assists, and most putouts, of any pitcher since 1950. Which pitcher has been charged with the most errors since that time?
The answer can be found below.
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NEWS NOTES
SABR announced the 2026 recipients of the Henry Chadwick Award, which was established to honor the game’s great researchers — historians, statisticians, annalists, and archivists — for their invaluable contributions to the game. This year’s honorees are Brian Kenny, Eugene Murdock, Bob Ruck, and Allan Simpson. More information can be found here.
SABR members have elected Tyrone Brooks, Pat Filippone, Katie Krall, and Allison Levin to the organization’s Board of Directors. The announcement is here.
Bob Skinner, an outfielder/first baseman who played for three teams — primarily the Pittsburgh Pirates — from 1952-1966, died earlier this week at age 94. A member of two World Series-winning teams — the Pirates in 1960 and the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964 — Skinner had his best statistical season in 1962 when he slugged 20 home runs while putting up a 141 wRC+ with the Bucs. He went on to manage the Philadelphia Phillies in 1968 and 1969.
Conrad Cardinal, a right-hander who made half a dozen appearances for the Houston Colt .45s in 1963, died late last month at age 84. Known during his playing days as Randy, the Brooklyn-born hurler went 0-1 with a 6.08 ERA over 13-and-a-third frames. Cardinal’s given middle name was Seth, but it could just as easily been “low-leverage” — the Colt .45s were outscored 57-7 in the six games he took the mound. The first of his seven strikeout victims was Willie Mays.
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The answer to the quiz is Nolan Ryan. Moreover, his 90 errors are not only the most for a pitcher since 1950, they are the most in the modern era (since 1901). Don Drysdale (59) and Randy Johnson (58), have the next-highest error totals for a pitcher post-1950.
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Wade Boggs played for the Boston Red Sox from 1982-1992, an 11-season stretch in which he made eight All-Star teams and — taking ample advantage of the Green Monster — won five batting titles while slashing .338/.428/.462 with a 142 wRC. Then he left for the Big Apple. In December, 1992, Boggs signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees.
The Hall of Fame third baseman looked back at his departure when he met with reporters at Fenway Park on Friday night. He did so with a hint of regret.
“[Then-owner] Mrs. Yawkey offered me a seven-year deal to stay with the Red Sox,”recalled Boggs. “For substantial money. Then, coincidentally, her dying [in February 1992], the offer was taken off the table and I had to find employment elsewhere. I think we kind of know how that story ended. But no, I never wanted to leave Boston.
“I look at the wall, and I go ‘Thank you,’” Boggs went on to say. “I look at it and go, ‘There is a guy who hit .363 here, and he’s second on the list. Somebody hit .369 at Fenway Park. Whenever you can top Ted Williams at something, you’ve done something.
“I got drafted on June 10th, in 1976,” Boggs added. “I was at an American Legion game and my father came running down. He said, ‘You went in the seventh round to Boston.’ He was so prophetic. He said, ‘Fenway Park was built for you.’ Truer words were never spoken… Like I said, I didn’t want to leave here. Maybe the batting average would be a little higher had I stayed.”
Boggs finished with a .328 batting average, which ranks second-highest among players to have debuted since 1980. Tony Gwynn batted .338.
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What is it like to be a visiting player at a historic venue, watching legends being celebrated before a game? I asked that question to Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen, who was on hand when Boggs, Carlton Fisk, Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz, Jim Rice, and Carl Yastrzemski — the six living players whose retired numbers adorn Fenway’s right field facade — were introduced to the crowd.
“Obviously, the organization has a long, rich history of really good players,” Rasmussen told me the following day. “To see them take the field and get their shine for what they accomplished in their time, in that uniform, is really cool. Just as a general baseball fan, the names, and seeing [them] out there has been special.”
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FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Robinson Canó is slashing .320/.388/.507 with two home runs over 85 plate appearances with the Mexican League’s Diablos Rojos del Mexico. Now in his 26th season, the 45-year-old erstwhile MLB infielder has 3,694 professional hits.
Steven Moya is slashing .311/.371/.509 with three home runs over 116 plate appearances for the CPBL’s TSG Hawks. The former Detroit Tiger (2014-2016) is in his third season in Taiwan following four in NPB, as well as stints in Mexico and the independent Atlantic League.
Do Yeong Kim has a KBO-best 12 home runs to go with a .269/.373/.592 slash line and a 152 wRC+ over 153 appearances for the Kia Tigers. Limited to 30 games last season due to injuries, the 22-year-old third baseman had 38 home runs, 40 stolen bases, and a 168 wRC+ in 2024.
Haruto Takahashi is 4-0 with a 0.21 ERA over 42 innings for NPB’s Hanshin Tigers. The 30-year-old left-hander has allowed 18 hits, issued five free passes, and fanned 37 batters.
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A Japanese-born position players leaderboard:
Seiya Suzuki: a 171 wRC+ over 115 PAs.
Munetaka Murakami: a 149 wRC+ over 169 PAs.
Kazuma Okamoto: a 128 wRC+ over 159 PAs.
Shohei Ohtani: a 126 wRC+ over 171 PAs.
Masataka Yoshida: a 110 wRC+ over 77 PAs.
Jung Hoo Lee: a 96 wRC+ over 154 PAs.
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FARM NOTES
Henry Bolte is 10-for-10 with four home runs ,a triple, and four doubles, over his last two games with the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators. No. 10 on our Athletics Top Prospects list with a 40+ FV, the 22-year-old outfielder is slashing .351/.419/.669 with a dozen round-trippers on the season.
Ronny Cruz is slashing .342/.447/.586 with six home runs and a 174 wRC+ over 132 plate appearances between Low-A Fredericksburg and High-A Wilmington. No. 4 on our Washington Nationals Top Prospects list with a 50 FV, the 19-year-old multi-position infielder was acquired by the Nats at last summer’s trade-deadline deal that sent Michael Soroka to the Chicago Cubs.
Kade Anderson has a 44.3% strikeout rate to go with a 4.7% walk rate and a 0.60 ERA over 30 innings with the Double-A Arkansas Travelers. The 21-year-old southpaw is No. 3 on our Seattle Mariners Top Prospects list with a 50 FV.
On Tuesday, Tyson Lewis launched a two-out, three-run walk-off homer to give the Daytona Tortugas (Low-A, Cincinnati) a 9-8 win over the Clearwater Threshers (Philadelphia). A 20-year-old shortstop who was selected in the second round of the 2024 draft out of an Omaha high school, Lewis is No. 11 on our Reds Top Prospects list with a 40+ FV.
On Wednesday, the Greenville Drive (High-A, Boston) hit eight home runs, including two each from Ronny Hernandez, Yophery Rodriguez, and Natanael Yuten, in a 13-12 loss to the Greensboro Grasshoppers (Pittsburgh). A 20-year-old catcher whom the Red Sox acquired from the Chicago White Sox over the offseason in exchange for Chris Murphy, Hernandez came off the IL to go 4-for-4 in his first-ever game with his new organization.
Garrett Spain launched three of his team’s 10 home runs on Thursday as the Wichita Wind Surge (Double-A Minnesota) walloped the Amarillo Sod Poodles (Arizona) by a count of 19-7. The 25-year-old outfielder is slashing .292/.370/.677 with nine round-trippers and a 157 wRC+ on the season.
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A random obscure former player snapshot:
Frank “Bullet” Miller was a farm boy with a good fastball, as well as — per his SABR BioProject entry — a sweeping curveball and a knuckleball. A right-hander from Allegan County, Michigan, he toed the rubber for three big-league teams from 1913-1923, logging a record of 52-66 with a 3.01 ERA over 1,010 innings. His career included a two-year hiatus. Embroiled in a salary dispute, Miller sat out the 1920-1921 seasons, opting to tend to his herd of cows rather than sign for less than the $5,000 annual contract he’d demanded from the Pittsburgh Pirates and (after his rights were sold amid the standoff) the Boston Braves.
He’d begun his professional career with the Northern Copper Country League’s Houghton Giants in 1907, after which he enjoyed a string of good seasons down on the proverbial farm. Miller went 24-16 with the Western League’s Des Moines Boosters in 1909, then had three consecutive 20-win campaigns with the Pacific Coast League’s San Francisco Seals.
His MLB debut came with the Chicago White Sox in 1913, where he matched up against Smoky Joe Wood and took a loss against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. A decade later, Miller, who by then had segued from dairy farming to raising chickens and harvesting cherries, made his last-ever appearance with the Braves at Chicago’s Cubs Park. Rube Marquard and Tiny Osborne were the starting pitchers for their respective teams that day.
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LINKS YOU’LL LIKE
Daz Cameron is enjoying a good first season in Korea with the Doosan Bears. Jee-ho Yoo talked to the erstwhile MLB outfielder for Yonhap News Agency.
The last-ever Class D minor-league game was played on September 13, 1962 with the Dubuque Packers (a Cleveland affiliate) and Waterloo Hawks (Boston) competing for the Midwest League championship. Kurt Blumenau chronicled the contest for SABR’s Game Project.
Banning the infield shift didn’t bring back the base hit, but does anyone care? Stephen J. Nesbitt and Cody Stavenhagen teamed up to address that question at The Athletic.
Teams are bunting more this season, and MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince gave us the numbers, as well as insights from players and coaches.
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RANDOM FACTS AND STATS
Milwaukee Brewers batters have 13 bunt hits this season, the most in the majors. The Baltimore Orioles. Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins, and San Francisco Giants are all without a bunt hit.
Philadelphia Phillies pitchers have combined to strike out 384 batters this season, the most of any team. They have allowed 386 hits, the most of any team.
Milwaukee Brewers reliever Aaron Ashby leads all MLB pitchers in wins. The left-hander has toed the slab 18 times and is 7-0 with a 2.16 ERA over 25 innings.
Nathan Eovaldi is 5-0 with a 2.54 ERA in 46 career innings versus the Detroit Tigers. He is 0-5 with a 5.73 ERA in 33 career innings versus the Milwaukee Brewers.
Joey Votto stole 24 bases for Double-A Chattanooga in 2006, 17 bases for Triple-A Louisville in 2007, and 16 bases for the Cincinnati Reds in 2010. Drafted as a catcher out of a Toronto high school in 2002, Votto went on to have 150 steals in pro ball, 80 in the majors and 70 down on the farm.
Willie McCovey hit four of his 18 grand slams against the Cincinnati Reds. That was his most against any team, as were his number of hits (260), doubles (53), total bases (522), and RBIs (196). McCovey’s 69 homers against the Reds were two fewer than he hit against the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves.
On today’s date in 2005, Jorge Cantu took Shingo Takatsu deep to give the Tampa Bay Rays a 7-6 walk-off win over the Chicago White Sox at Tropicana Field. Jesus Colome was the pitcher of record for the victorious side.
Henry Aaron hit the only inside-the-park of his career on today’s date in 1967. The round-tripper, which came off of fellow Hall of Famer Jim Bunning, came in the first game of a doubleheader. Aaron also homered in the nightcap.
On today’s date in 1979, the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds played the first nine-plus innings of a game that was suspended, then completed on July 23 with the home team prevailing 9-8 in 18 innings. Steve Ontiveras sent the Wrigley Field faithful home happy with a walk-off single, while Lynn McGlothen tossed three perfect frames for the W.
Players born on today’s date include Ken Berry, a centerfielder who won two Gold Gloves and earned one All-Star berth while playing for four teams, primarily the Chicago White Sox, from 1962-1975. Not known for his bat, Berry did have a strong statistical season with the California Angels in 1972, hitting .289 with a 124 wRC+. He later coached and managed in the minors.
Also born on today’s date was Edouard Gladu, a native of Montreal who logged 16 hits while appearing in 22 games for the Boston Braves in 1944. Later a scout, he also played in Canada, Cuba, and Mexico, as well as in the London Major Baseball League, where he was a player-manager for West Ham. Gladu is in both the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and the British Baseball Hall of Fame.
John Sterling’s big-league career comprised one appearance for the American Association’s Philadelphia Athletics in 1890. Pitching against the Syracuse Stars, the right-hander allowed 16 hits and 12 earned runs over five innings. Per his SABR BioProject entry, Sterling later traveled the country as a singing comedian, and he also became a politician in Gloucester, New Jersey. His local Democratic party nominated him as its candidate for Overseer of the Poor.