THE HARD COUNTArchive

THE HARD COUNT

The archive.

Every issue, back to the beginning. Read it before the snap — or read it after.

All issues

Vol. 1 · No. 069 · MLB

Forget the .142. One Year Ago Today Cincinnati Bought This Bat, and the Contact Still Backs Them.

Thursday, July 30, 2026

Exactly one year after Cincinnati traded for Ke'Bryan Hayes, he owns the lowest batting average in baseball and the largest gap between contact and results in the sport. Plus four of the eleven best gloves in MLB on one field in St. Louis, the biggest home-park run inflation in recorded history, and Texas punting a game four days from the deadline.

Vol. 1 · No. 068 · MLB

Tarik Skubal Is 7-5. Throw the Record Away.

Wednesday, July 29, 2026

Tarik Skubal owns back-to-back Cy Youngs and a 7-5 record, because his team is 51-57 and its glove is 20 outs below average. Plus the most punished fastball on the board meeting the best bat in baseball, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s six home runs on a $500M contract, and ten teams stuck at .500 with five days to the deadline.

Vol. 1 · No. 067 · MLB

Ronald Acuña Jr. Is Back. The Contact Says He's Owed Seventy Points of Slugging.

Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Ronald Acuña Jr. returns from 48 days out with seventy points of slugging the box score hasn't paid him. Plus the Giants infield that holds the sixth-best glove in baseball and the second-worst, the loudest bat in the sport hitting .240, and why half a run of money moved to Sacramento.

Vol. 1 · No. 066 · MLB

Max Scherzer Owned This Ballpark. He Comes Back to It on His Birthday, Renting.

Monday, July 27, 2026

Max Scherzer returns to the Washington ballpark he made famous — on his 42nd birthday, carrying a 10.23 ERA. Plus a 12-1 arm in front of baseball's third-worst glove, CJ Abrams' quiet 27-homer season, and why a half-run of money moved to Boston overnight.

Vol. 1 · No. 065 · MLB

Juan Soto Won't Play Tonight. The Best Team in Baseball Came to Queens Anyway.

Sunday, July 26, 2026

The 67-38 Dodgers visit a 43-62 Mets team that just lost Juan Soto to the IL, plus the best glove in baseball stuck behind the wrong arm at PNC, Kyle Schwarber's 33-homer thunder, and why Rangers-Mariners owns the board's lowest total.

Vol. 1 · No. 064 · MLB

The White Sox Lost 121 Games a Year Ago. Tonight Their Homegrown Ace Is the Favorite.

Saturday, July 25, 2026

A year after 121 losses, the first-place White Sox hand the ball to homegrown ace Sean Burke while Houston's Hunter Brown can't find the strike zone. Plus Ceddanne Rafaela's elite glove and borrowed bat, Aaron Judge's .415 xwOBA calling his 'down year' a lie, and how baseball's best team is somehow tonight's underdog at PNC.

Vol. 1 · No. 063 · MLB

Tampa Bay Built a Contender Around the Loudest Bat in Baseball. And the Worst Glove at Third.

Friday, July 24, 2026

The Rays are 59-43 built around Junior Caminero's loud bat (154 wRC+, 29 HR) and the worst glove at third base in baseball. Plus Jared Jones' 600-day comeback and July breakout, the quietest best ERA on the board (Bryce Miller's 2.27), and why Detroit's the night's biggest favorite for a reason that isn't in Detroit.

Vol. 1 · No. 062 · MLB

Jose Ramirez Is Back in Cleveland's Lineup. The Contact Says the Quiet Bat Is About to Get Loud.

Thursday, July 23, 2026

Jose Ramirez is off the IL and the contact says his quiet .242 is about to erupt.

Vol. 1 · No. 061 · MLB

The Marlins Have Lost Eight Straight. The Man on the Mound Is the Last Reason Why.

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

Miami's dropped eight in a row and hands the ball to Sandy Alcantara.

Vol. 1 · No. 060 · MLB

Two Trades, One Mound: The Deadline's First Duel Lands at Wrigley

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

The trade deadline hit the rotation first: Framber Valdez, now a Tiger, faces David Peterson, now a Cub.

Vol. 1 · No. 059 · MLB

Cristopher Sanchez Has Been the Phillies' Quiet Ace. Tonight the Bill Comes Due.

Monday, July 20, 2026

The Dodgers own baseball's best record and drew the one Phillies starter whose game lives on soft contact.

Vol. 1 · No. 058 · MLB

The Best Glove in Baseball Plays for a 40-59 Team

Sunday, July 19, 2026

Kansas City is 40-59 and rosters the most complete player nobody's discussing: Bobby Witt Jr.

Vol. 1 · No. 057 · MLB

The Biggest Game on the Board Turns on Two Catchers Having Miserable Years

Saturday, July 18, 2026

Baseball's best team is a Bronx coin flip, and the sharpest edge is behind the plate.

Vol. 1 · No. 056 · MLB

Roki Sasaki Came to New York a Phenom. Tonight He Brings a Solved Fastball.

Friday, July 17, 2026

Baseball's best team is a coin flip in the Bronx: Roki Sasaki's fastball has become the leak.

Vol. 1 · No. 055 · MLB

The Best Hitter on the Field Tonight Plays for the Worst Team on It

Thursday, July 16, 2026

Baseball peeks out of the All-Star break with a single game in Philadelphia.

Vol. 1 · No. 054 · MLB

One Day a Year, Baseball Owes You Nothing. This Is It.

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Baseball's one guaranteed dark day - nothing on the board in any league.

Vol. 1 · No. 053 · MLB · All-Star Game

Roy Halladay Started the Last All-Star Game for Both of Tonight's Teams

Tuesday, July 14, 2026

The only game on the whole sports calendar is the Midsummer Classic in Philadelphia.

Vol. 1 · No. 052 · MLB · Home Run Derby

Why Is a 33-Year-Old With a Balky Back the Man to Beat?

Monday, July 13, 2026

No games anywhere tonight - just eight sluggers in Philadelphia.

Vol. 1 · No. 051 · MLB

Houston and Texas Renew It in Arlington, With Two Starters Nobody Trusts

Sunday, July 12, 2026

Houston and Texas meet in Arlington with two starters in free fall.

Vol. 1 · No. 050 · MLB

Walker Buehler's 5.07 ERA Is the Biggest Lie in Tonight's Best Game

Saturday, July 11, 2026

Walker Buehler's ugly 5.07 ERA is the biggest lie in tonight's best game.

Vol. 1 · No. SP · World Cup · Wimbledon

Special Edition: France-Morocco, a 2022 Rematch

Thursday, July 9, 2026 · Special

A pre-match special: France-Morocco reprises the 2022 semifinal.

Vol. 1 · No. 048 · MLB

Patrick Sandoval Throws His First Big-League Pitch in 748 Days. It Lands in First Place.

Thursday, July 9, 2026

Patrick Sandoval makes his Red Sox debut 748 days after his last big-league pitch.

Vol. 1 · No. 047 · MLB

The Best Team in Baseball Is in Los Angeles. The Second-Best One Is the Angle.

Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Milwaukee's +137 run differential and 29-15 road record are the story the standings bury.

Vol. 1 · No. 046 · MLB

Jacob deGrom Still Throws 97. The Pitch That Made Him Is the One They're Squaring Up.

Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Three aces, three hidden truths: deGrom, Skubal, Skenes.

Vol. 1 · No. 045 · MLB

Cam Schlittler Is a 2.08 Story at Home. On the Road, He's Meaner.

Monday, July 6, 2026

Cam Schlittler carries a 1.03 road ERA into baseball's best team.