Today’s edition of One Night Only features three games you should probably watch and one you probably shouldn’t.

Texas at Detroit | 1:05pm ET
Starting Pitchers
Rangers: Alexi Ogando
64.1 IP, 9.38 K/9, 4.34 BB/9, 3.66 FIP, 90 FIP- (ZiPS)

Tigers: Justin Verlander
215.0 IP, 9.21 K/9, 2.80 BB/9, 2.94 FIP, 72 FIP- (ZiPS)

Notes
• This afternoon marks Alexi Ogando’s second start of the season — which, that’s also his second start ever.
• His first start, against the Mariners last week, was pretty much a success: 6.0 IP, 22 TBF, 4 K, 2 BB, 5 GB on 16 batted balls (31.3%).
• As we suspected might be the case — and as Tommy Rancel confirmed afterwards — Ogando’s change-up use (i.e. what most pitchers use to neutralize opposite-handed batters) was almost non-extant.
• Probably as a result, his splits even in this one game were significant: 5.02 xFIP versus lefties, 0.94 xFIP versus righties.
• Small sample! Small sample! Small sample!

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Make sure to click on the scores to see our all new box scores. They’re really something else.

Angels over Blue Jays, 3 games to 2

Moving the Needle: Maicer Izturis wins it with a single in the 14th, +.399 WPA. A less speedy player on second and he might have had him. A better throw, too, and they might have gotten him. But Peter Bourjos raced around third base and didn’t stop until he had scored the winning run in the 14th inning of Saturday’s game. The hit ended a scoring drought that started in the fifth inning. Yes, that’s the equivalent of a complete game with no score in this one.

Blue Jays 3, Angels 2
Angels 6, Blue Jays 5
Angels 3, Blue Jays 1

Also in this issue: Rangesr over Orioles | Red Sox over Yankees | White Sox over Rays | Royals over Tigers | A’s over Twins | Indians over Mariners | Diamondbacks over Reds | Phillies over Braves | Marlins over Astros | Brewers over Cubs | Nationals over Mets | Dodgers over Padres | Giants over Cardinals | Rockies over Pirates |

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Our boxscores just got a major overhaul after being neglected for several years! Here’s what’s new:

– The Game Graphs, Play Log, and Box Score sections were merged into one single page.

– Almost every FanGraphs stat is available in the boxscore both on the individual player level and team total level. Every stat comes in its own familiar section, just as they’re laid out on the player pages and leaderboards.

– Each section is fully sortable with much improved sorting performance.

– Each stat can be hovered over for a tooltip style quick definition.

– Stars of the Game voting and viewing can be conducted on the boxscore page. Please remember to vote!

All the new boxscores are available for both live games and any game dating back to 1974.

Big thanks to Amazin’ Avenue for thoroughly trashing our previous boxscore layout.

The Pirates downed the Rockies in 14 innings on Friday thanks to a game-winning double off the bat of Jose Tabata. But the real hero of the game was manager Clint Hurdle, whose strategic decision to send Andrew McCutchen to the on-deck circle as opposed to relief pitcher Garrett Olson likely confused Jim Tracy into pitching to Tabata in the first place.

The Pirates bench was empty and, due to a double-switch made earlier in the game, the pitcher’s spot was due up second in the order, behind Tabata and before McCutchen. After Franklin Morales walked Josh Rodriguez with two outs in the 14th frame of a game knotted at three runs each, Tabata stepped into the batters box.

Knowing that the next scheduled hitter was a reliever, and that the Pirates’ only other pinch-hit options were pitchers, the safe course of action is to walk Tabata. This puts runners at first and second, but with a vastly inferior hitter at the dish.

The situation cannot be effectively measured by WPA without incorporating the strength of the batter. The Pirates might appear to have more of a chance to win the game with runners at first and second as opposed to just having first base occupied, but the difference is likely offset by the gap in productivity at the plate between Tabata and Olson. It’s interesting to ponder: does Tabata up with a runner on first give you a better shot at winning than a reliever up with first and second? I vote yes without hesitation, meaning Tracy’s decision should have been clear.

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Episode Sixty-Nine
In which the guest stays on the scene like a scout machine.

Headlines
The Frankie Piliere Story — Told!
Confusing Scout Terminology — Demystified!
Frankie’s “Guys” — Revealed!

Featuring
Frankie Piliere, Official Prospect Maven

Finally, you can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio on the flip-flop. (Approximately 50 min play time.)

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Manny Ramirez, one of the greatest hitters to ever walk the face of the Earth, and one of the most polarizing athletes of his generation, abruptly announced his retirement this afternoon.

Major League Baseball had notified Ramirez about “an issue under Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention/Treatment Program.” Reading between the lines, it’s likely that Ramirez chose to retire rather than face a second (major) suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs. He leaves behind a complicated legacy, a checkered Hall of Fame case, and a team that suddenly faces some gigantic decisions.

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First of all, I’ve done a couple updates to the Library over the course of the past week. We now have a section there on Contract Details, which can be found under the “Sabermetric Principles” heading. It’s filled with articles discussing the details behind such confusing things like waivers, player options, service time, and Super Two status. The beginning of the year is always filled with lots of questions about how many options players have and when rookies can be promoted yet still delay their arbitration clock, so hopefully these articles are helpful for everyone.

Also, I’ve finished adding pages on Shutdowns and Meltdowns and the minus stats (ERA-, FIP-, xFIP-). If there are any other pages you’d like added to the Library, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter or through the contact us form on the right-hand side of all Library pages.

And now, since the minus statistics are all still rather new around these parts, below the jump I’m going to include some brief thoughts on ERA-, FIP-, and xFIP-, using number from the Aughts (2000-2010) as an example. Since these statistics are park and league adjusted, they are perfect for comparing performances across different years and leagues.

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In a matchup against his former team – although not against many of his former teammates – Edwin Jackson carved through the Tampa Bay Rays yesterday afternoon. Over eight innings he struck out 13 while allowing just four hits, a single walk and an earned run. His first start against the Cleveland Indians wasn’t as good, but he did get seven strikeouts over six innings. Needless to say, Jackson has had an encouraging first two starts.

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If you haven’t read part one of the study, you can get caught up here.

If you have, you’ll remember that the previous analysis suggests that, for almost every round in the draft, the mean bonus a player receives after going to college is greater than what they were offered out of high school. At first glance, this finding may seem to suggest that players are better off financially by going to college. But there is more to consider than just the signing bonus a player receives.

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