In the recent past, we’ve discussed many of the various aspects of the emerging granular batted-ball velocity/exit angle data that is becoming more pervasive in the game today. It’s now the starting pitchers’ turn, as we look at the best and worst contact managers in the game in 2014. Last week, we looked at the American League; today, it’s the National League’s turn. There weren’t many surprises among the AL leaders and laggards, but there appear to have been a couple in the senior circuit.

Read the rest of this entry »

In the recent past, we’ve discussed many of the various aspects of the emerging granular batted-ball velocity/exit angle data that is all the rage today. Last week, we looked at the hitters with the best and worst contact quality in both the American and National Leagues; over the next couple weeks, it’s the starting pitchers’ turn, as we look at the best and worst contact managers in the game in 2014. Today, let’s look at the American League. You’ll notice that contact management was quite central to AL starting pitcher success last season.

Read the rest of this entry »

The last couple of weeks, we’ve discussed many of the various aspects of the emerging granular batted-ball velocity/exit angle data that is all the rage today. Starting this week, we’re bringing it all together, reviewing the best and worst contact-makers (and allowers) in both leagues in 2014. Earlier this week, we covered the AL offensive contact-quality leaders and laggards. Today, it’s the NL hitters’ turn. You will notice that contact quality, while extremely important, is far from the singular defining characteristic of a hitter.

Read the rest of this entry »

In the last couple of weeks, we’ve discussed many of the various aspects of the emerging granular batted-ball velocity/exit angle data that is all the rage today. In the next few articles, we’re going to bring it all together, and review the best and worst contact-makers (and allowers) in both leagues in 2014. Today, we’ll cover the AL offensive contact-quality leaders and laggards. You will notice that contact quality, while extremely important, is far from the singular defining characteristic of a hitter.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is the third in a series of articles on the emergence of batted-ball data into the baseball mainstream. Today, we’re going to focus much less on the exit velocity of batted balls, and more upon the direction in which they are hit. While a pulled baseball offers the ultimate potential upside, it also carries with it risk, of the potentially career-swallowing variety. Read the rest of this entry »

This is the second in a series of pieces on the emergence of batted-ball data into the mainstream. Earlier this week, we covered the basics in a fair amount of detail. Today, we’re going to drill down a bit into arguably the most important piece of information discussed in that article; the fine line between the most and least productive fly balls, where we will quickly discover that not all hard fly balls are created equal. Read the rest of this entry »

The modern baseball statistical analysis revolution has largely been about one thing; weeding out the noise, and getting to the root of a player’s true talent. DIPS theory, which posited that the only things that pitchers truly should be held accountable for were strikeouts, walks and homers allowed, represented a major step forward, and brought terms like BABIP and FIP into the game’s lexicon. What those new metrics assumed, however, was that all other batted balls were more or less created equal. Now, with the advent of StatCast, we all know, publicly, that is not the case. Read the rest of this entry »

Player decline is a varied and interesting topic. Hitters become less effective and eventually go away for a multitude of reasons, from injury to an increasing inability to make contact, or the right types of contact. The increasing availability of batted-ball data makes it possible to analyze decline in new ways. Declining authority levels, increasing pull tendencies; these are only a couple of the variables that can hasten a hitter’s descent. Today, let’s take a look at Aramis Ramirez, focusing on his 2014 batted-ball data to uncover some information that could have foretold his ongoing rapid decline in this, his final MLB season. Read the rest of this entry »

The Hunt for Alex Rodriguez began early in spring training, and the feel one got from most of the reporting was almost akin to that of a death watch. Expectations were, to put it mildly, quite low, and the potential for theater was very high; the perfect combination for a media firestorm. Well, something very interesting has happened on Rodriguez’ way to the boneyard; he has looked quite useful, maybe even well above average in the season’s early going. There’s a long way to go, with many chapters yet to be written, but exactly how unusual and historically significant might a full-blown A-Rod Renaissance be? Read the rest of this entry »

Before the start of the regular season, we took a look at a few American League hitters who, based on their recent batted ball profiles, looked to be headed for a decline this season. While the season is now a little more than a week old, it’s not too late to look at a couple of their National League peers. You’ll have to take my word for it that these players were chosen prior to Opening Day, and I didn’t wait for their early season slow starts to cherry-pick Matt Adams and Brandon Crawford as my two senior-circuit selections. Read the rest of this entry »