Episode 472
Dave Cameron is both (a) the managing editor of FanGraphs and (b) the guest on this particular edition of FanGraphs Audio — during which edition he reveals, among other revelations, that he’ll be voting on two BBWAA awards this year.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @cistulli on Twitter.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio after the jump. (Approximately 33 min play time.)

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Devised originally in response to a challenge issued by viscount of the internet Rob Neyer, and expanded at the request of nobody, NERD scores represent an attempt to summarize in one number (and on a scale of 0-10) the likely aesthetic appeal or watchability, for the learned fan, of a player or team or game. Read more about the components of and formulae for NERD scores here.

Most Highly Rated Game
Toronto at Milwaukee | 20:10 ET
J.A. Happ (109.1 IP, 108 xFIP-, 0.9 WAR) faces Mike Fiers (21.0 IP, 74 xFIP-, 0.5 WAR). The latter recorded, in his most recent start, which was also his second major-league start of the season, he recorded 14 strikeouts against just 22 batters (box) — a percentage, that, which would amount to a passing grade in most American high schools and colleges. Unless the college were Hampshire, that is. In the case of Hampshire College, Fiers would have instead received a detailed narrative evaluation. In any case, Fiers et al. currently possess 49% odds of winning the Central and slightly-better-than-that odds of qualifying for the divisional series at all.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Milwaukee Radio.

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Devised originally in response to a challenge issued by viscount of the internet Rob Neyer, and expanded at the request of nobody, NERD scores represent an attempt to summarize in one number (and on a scale of 0-10) the likely aesthetic appeal or watchability, for the learned fan, of a player or team or game. Read more about the components of and formulae for NERD scores here.

Most Highly Rated Game
Atlanta at Pittsburgh | 19:05 ET
Ervin Santana (150.0 IP, 89 xFIP-, 2.7 WAR) faces Vance Worley (68.0 IP, 98 xFIP-, 0.7 WAR). The Atlantans and the Pittsburghers find themselves in nearly identical positions entering what the author would probably find is a three-game series had he the will to look up that sort of information. Regard: neither team has better than 10% odds of winning their respective division. And continue regarding: both clubs possess 20-25% odds of qualifying for the divisional series. Considerable, in other words, is how much importance this game has inside it.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Atlanta Radio.

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Devised originally in response to a challenge issued by viscount of the internet Rob Neyer, and expanded at the request of nobody, NERD scores represent an attempt to summarize in one number (and on a scale of 0-10) the likely aesthetic appeal or watchability, for the learned fan, of a player or team or game. Read more about the components of and formulae for NERD scores here.

Most Highly Rated Game
Milwaukee at Los Angeles NL | 16:10 ET
Wily Peralta (151.0 IP, 98 xFIP-, 0.9 WAR) faces Dan Haren (140.0 IP, 101 xFIP-, 0.1 WAR). Milwaukee’s defeat of Clayton Kershaw et al. on Saturday (box) — in concert with losses both by Pittsburgh and St. Louis — allowed the Brewers to improve their odds of winning the NL Central by nearly 10 percentage points, from 38% to 47%. This afternoon, Americans have the opportunity to hear either Bob Uecker or Vin Scully narrate the events of this next contest between the Brewers and Trolley Dodgers.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Milwaukee Radio or Los Angeles NL Television.

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Devised originally in response to a challenge issued by viscount of the internet Rob Neyer, and expanded at the request of nobody, NERD scores represent an attempt to summarize in one number (and on a scale of 0-10) the likely aesthetic appeal or watchability, for the learned fan, of a player or team or game. Read more about the components of and formulae for NERD scores here.

Most Highly Rated Game
Seattle at Detroit | 19:08 ET
Felix Hernandez (180.1 IP, 62 xFIP-, 6.2 WAR) faces David Price (185.1 IP, 71 xFIP-, 4.0 WAR). The former is the prohibitive favorite for this year’s Cy Young award, while the latter likely would be a reasonable candidate for that same distinction were Felix Hernandez not to exist. Their clubs, meanwhile, feature 26% and 58% odds, respectively, of qualifying for the divisional series. A “cavalcade of dramas,” then, is what this contest seems to be producing.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Detroit Radio.

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Episode 471
Kiley McDaniel (@kileymcd) has worked for the Orioles, Pirates, and Yankees — and written both for ESPN and Scout. He’s recently been hired to lead FanGraphs’ prospect coverage. He’s also the guest on this edition of FanGraphs Audio.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @cistulli on Twitter.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio after the jump. (Approximately 57 min play time.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Devised originally in response to a challenge issued by viscount of the internet Rob Neyer, and expanded at the request of nobody, NERD scores represent an attempt to summarize in one number (and on a scale of 0-10) the likely aesthetic appeal or watchability, for the learned fan, of a player or team or game. Read more about the components of and formulae for NERD scores here.

Most Highly Rated Game
Seattle at Detroit | 19:08 ET
James Paxton (22.2 IP, 62 xFIP-, 0.3 WAR) faces Rick Porcello (150.1 IP, 96 xFIP-, 2.6 WAR). While it’s unlikely that Kansas City will continue to win either 90% or 100% of their games, the victories they have recorded continue to render Detroit’s superior projected rest-of-season win percentage (.561 to .516) less and less relevant as fewer and fewer games remain to be played. The Tigers’ currently feature just 57.0% odds of winning the AL Central — the lowest figure for the club, that, since the beginning of the whole season, it would appear. They face the left-handed Paxton, who was excellent in two starts this April before missing four months with an injury and has been excellent in two starts since returning.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Detroit Radio.

Read the rest of this entry »

Devised originally in response to a challenge issued by viscount of the internet Rob Neyer, and expanded at the request of nobody, NERD scores represent an attempt to summarize in one number (and on a scale of 0-10) the likely aesthetic appeal or watchability, for the learned fan, of a player or team or game. Read more about the components of and formulae for NERD scores here.

Most Highly Rated Game
Pittsburgh at Detroit | 13:08 ET
Francisco Liriano (108.1 IP, 93 xFIP-, 0.9 WAR) faces Max Scherzer (161.0 IP, 81 xFIP-, 4.2 WAR). No team faces less certainty with regard to the postseason at the moment than Pittsburgh, which club currently possesses a 48% chance of qualifying for the divisional series according to the methodology used by FanGraphs — a figure, that, which necessarily indicates they have 52% chance of not qualifying for it, as well. The addition of sexy retroactive playoff odds, meanwhile, allows one to note that following their win and also the Royals’ win last night, that the Tigers’ playoff odds shifted from 70.9% yesterday to… well, actually still 70.9% today. Bad example, that. But takes nothing away from the innate sexual appeal of retroactive playoff odds.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Detroit Radio.

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Episode 470
Drew Fairservice (@DrewGROF) has written for Walkoff Walk and The Score, and is writing currently for FanGraphs. He’s also the guest on this edition of FanGraphs Audio.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @cistulli on Twitter.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio after the jump. (Approximately 31 min play time.)

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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The Fringe Five is a weekly regular-season exercise, introduced last April by the present author, wherein that same ridiculous author utilizes regressed stats, scouting reports, and also his own heart to identify and/or continue monitoring the most compelling fringe prospects in all of baseball.

Central to the exercise, of course, is a definition of the word fringe, a term which possesses different connotations for different sorts of readers. For the purposes of the column this year, a fringe prospect (and therefore one eligible for inclusion in the Five) is any rookie-eligible player at High-A or above both (a) absent from all of three notable preseason top-100 prospect lists* and also (b) not currently playing in the majors. Players appearing on the midseason prospect lists produced by those same notable sources or, otherwise, selected in the first round of the current season’s amateur draft will also be excluded from eligibility.

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