Strikeouts are king in daily fantasy baseball. While using career strikeout rates for pitchers and opposing hitters is a good way to identify high strikeout potential matchups, we also want to find ways to identify pitchers whose strikeout rates should move relative to their career averages.

One way to do this is by analyzing a pitcher’s swinging strike rate (SwStr). A pitcher’s swinging strike rate is the percentages of his pitches that a hitter swings and misses at. Intuitively, it makes sense that generating swings and misses would be linked to strikeout rate, and the math supports this claim.

In general, a SwStr rate above 14 percent is elite and linked to an average strikeout rate over 30 percent. On the flip side, a SwStr rate below 6 percent is terrible and linked to an average strikeout rate of around just 15 percent. The league average strikeout rate this season is on the rise and sits at 22.5 percent.

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So far this season, the qualified starting ..

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) Arizona was one putt away from being eliminated at the NCAA Women’s golf championship.

One day later, the Wildcats earned a shot at the title.

Bianca Pagdanganan delivered another clutch moment on the par-5 18th as Arizona beat top-seeded UCLA in the quarterfinals Tuesday morning. Gigi Stoll and Sandra Nordaas led the Wildcats to a victory over Stanford in the afternoon to reach the championship match against Alabama.

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”We’re just keeping the momentum going,” Arizona coach Laura Ianello said.

The Wildcats have one big step remaining. Alabama is rolling, particularly its Big Three. Lauren Stephenson, Kristen Gillman and Cheyenne Knight were named All-Americans and then played like it by winning both matches in victories over Kent State and Southern California. Collectively, they trailed only two holes in the 99 holes they played at Karsten Creek Golf Club.

The surprise, however, was Arizona.

The Wildcats appeared to have blown the..

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) Bianca Pagdanganan delivered for the second straight day with a birdie on the final hole Tuesday for a 1-up victory that enabled Arizona to knock off top-seeded UCLA and advance to the semifinals of the NCAA women’s golf championship.

Pagdanganan made eagle on the par-5 18th at Karsten Creek that got Arizona into a playoff for the final spot in quarterfinals, rallying from a late deficit to defeat Patty Tavatanakit in the fifth and final match for a 3-2 victory.

Arizona moved on to play Stanford, which beat Northwestern when Andrea Lee won the final match for a 3-2 victory by the Cardinal.

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Southern California defeated Duke, 3-1-1, to advance to the semifinals against Alabama, a 4-1 winner over Kent State.

If you’re a PGA Tour pro, you might swap golf balls every few holes because you get them for free. But what about the rest of us?

The year was 1999. “…Baby One More Time” was ruling the airwaves, certain millennium apocalypse was barreling down on us like the cruise ship from Speed 2, and the Mariners were in the midst of the single most ridiculous MLB promotion night in the history of ridiculous MLB promotion nights: Turn Ahead the Clock Night, in which Ken Griffey Jr. and co. unleashed a bold vision of baseball in 2027, featuring a DeLorean, a first pitch-throwing robot, and, of course, sleeveless nylon jerseys:
Now, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of a night designed to celebrate a 50th anniversary 28 years in the future, the Mariners are reviving 'Turn Ahead the Clock Night' for another evening of retro-futuristic fun, including, most notably, the throw-forward throwbacks to end them all:
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'Turn Ahead the Clock Night' redux goes down June 30th (20 years to the day after the original, for those of you keeping..

Patrick SmithOn Wednesday night, Doc Emrick, the undisputed GOAT of broadcasting, will utter the greatest two words in sports: “Game 7.” Then, he'll follow with an epic, voice-cracking monologue that will likely trigger Washington Capitals fans with lowlights of Alex Ovechkin's sad face after past crushing playoff losses in the hopes of making them believe this is the night it will all change. I'm getting giddy just thinking about it.
The thing is, there is no reason to believe this is the time the Caps finally get it done, especially on the road against the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have had a knack for responding in big games throughout this entire Stanley Cup Playoffs. In round one, the Bolts dropped game three on the road in New Jersey, cutting their series lead to 2-1 with all the momentum in the Devils' favor. After going down 1-0 early in game four, the Lightning flipped a switch, going on to win 3-1 and then dominating at home in game five to close out the se..

Geoff Ogilvy’s immediate future involves fewer golf tournament and longer flights.

Ogilvy has been contemplating in the last few years moving back home to Australia, and after discussing it with his Texas-born wife, Juli, they plan to return to Melbourne shortly after Christmas.

Their daughter, Phoebe, turns 12 in October and will be starting the seventh grade in Australia. They have two sons, Jasper (10) and Harvey (8). The Ogilvys figured that waiting much longer to decide where to live would make it tougher on the children.

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”We just talked about it, for lots of reasons, and we kept making pros and cons. Juli was strong on it,” Ogilvy said. ”We’re excited. I’m at the point where I’m not going to play 27 times a year. It’s going to be brutal to play from there. But you’ve got to choose life.”

Ogilvy won the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, and he counts three World Golf Championships among his eight PGA Tour victories. He also has won the Australian Open..

Welcome to another edition of The Grind, where the only royal wedding we care about is whenever Dustin Johnson and Paulina Gretzky finally tie the knot. The (former) World No. 1 golfer marrying the heiress to the Gretzky throne tops the sixth in line to England’s crown marrying an actress most famous for her role in a USA show. And Windsor Castle has historic charm, but give me House Gretzky (or is it Wayne Manor) — the one the hockey legend just bought back — as a wedding venue any day. It's got great golf course views. Plus, the upkeep is a lot more manageable.
FacebookPinterestChris CondonBut while we wait for golf's most famous couple to set a big day that will probably cost Wayne less than the $45 million dropped on Harry and Meghan's nuptials, there's plenty else to discuss. Let's get to it.
WE'RE BUYING
Aaron Wise: Just a couple weeks removed from an impressive runner-up at Quail Hollow, Wise tamed Trinity Forest for his first PGA Tour title. The 21..

Men's college golf has three national player-of-the-year awards, each with their own criteria and voting panels. Here's a primer to keep them each straight

Chris GraythenThe Indianapolis 500 goes green this Memorial Day weekend, as it has (just about) every Memorial Day weekend since 1911. To pay tribute, join Indiana native Jeff Vrabel for a quick refresher lap around two-and-a-half miles of pure, unbridled America.
What is it?
The 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500, still the Largest Single-Day Sporting Event in the World, no matter what those jerks from Wrestlemania try to tell you. The race remains the sports pride of the state, although the Pacers basically coming one blown goaltending call away from toppling LeBron is a real good second.
Is this still a big deal?
WE IN INDIANA WILL HAVE YOU KNOW that the 500 remains the biggest event in our state AND yours: More than 300,000 cooler-toting jorts-rocking sunstroke-developing exhaust-sniffing Race Fans will begin streaming into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at 6 a.m. on Sunday, when an actual cannon is fired to signal the opening of the gates and wake up every last dog in Speedway..