What? It’s just science.

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for this edition of the Leaderboards of Pleasure.

1. A Note Regarding the Absence of Player NERD
2. Team NERD Leaderboard
3. Pitcher NERD Leaderboard

A Note Regarding the Absence of Player NERD
The attentive and very enthusiastic reader will note that Player NERD, as it was from last week’s, is absent from this edition of the Leaderboards of Pleasure. This is because both (a) the author has had a Great Vision regarding how it (i.e. Player NERD) might be altered for the better and (b) said Great Vision needs time to be Fully Realized.

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Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Daily Notes.

1. Featured Game: Atlanta at Chicago NL, 20:05 ET
2. Video You Can Watch: Jeff Samardzija’s Most Recent Start
3. Other Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
4. Today’s Complete Schedule

Featured Game: Atlanta at Chicago NL, 20:05 ET
Regarding Who’s Starting Tonight for Chicago
In terms of who’s starting tonight for Chicago, it’s right-hander Jeff Samardzija.

Regarding Why Anyone Should Give a Care
In terms of why anyone should give a care about how Jeff Samardzija is starting, consider that, among the 137 pitchers with 20-plus innings as a starter this season, he ranks 14th by xFIP (2.92), third in swinging-strike rate (13.0%), and third in average fastball velocity (95.0 mph, per PITCHf/x) — and also has an above-average overall strike rate (65.2%).

Regarding the Significance of the Aforecited Metrics
The significance of the aforecited metrics is that they’re all, each of them, scientifically proven by science to correlate pretty strongly with the aesthetic appeal — or, watchability — of a pitcher.

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Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Daily Notes.

1. Featured Game: St. Louis at Houston, 14:05 ET (Free Game)
2. Other Notable Games
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

Featured Game: St. Louis at Houston, 14:05 ET
Regarding This Game, How Expensive It Is to Watch
This game costs zero dollars to watch, on account of it’s today’s MLB.TV Free Game (link).

Regarding Houston, Their Recent Success
After their 5-4 victory over St. Louis on Friday (box), Houston’s WAR winning percentage — i.e. an entirely infallible metric that no one should question — rose from .525 to .537.

Regarding Houston, Their Success on Saturday
On Saturday, Houston once again defeated St. Louis — this time by a score of 8-2 (box).

Regarding That Saturday Game, Houston’s Greatest Contributors
Regarding that Saturday game, Houston’s greatest contributor in terms of WPA was third baseman Chris Johnson (.341), largely on account of a first-inning grand slam he hit off Jaime Garcia. In terms of wOBA, the team’s single-game leader was center fielder Justin Maxwell (.804), on account of posting this line: 4 PA, 2 2B, 1 BB.

Regarding Today’s Starting Pitchers
Today’s starting pitchers are Adam Wainwright (26.2 IP, 77 xFIP-, -0.1 WAR) for St. Louis and J.A. Happ (29.1 IP, 97 xFIP-, 0.3 WAR) for Houston.

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Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Daily Notes.

1. Featured Game: St. Louis at Houston, 19:05 ET
2. Other Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

Featured Game: St. Louis at Houston, 19:05 ET
Regarding the Houston Astros as of Friday
As of Friday, the Houston Astros were tied (with San Francisco) for the 11th-best WAR winning percentage in the majors, at .525.

Regarding the Houston Astros on Friday
On Friday, the Houston Astros defeated the St. Louis Cardinals — that is, the team with the best overall WAR winning percentage — by a score of 5-4 (box).

Regarding One Reason the Astros’ Early Success Is Surprising
One reason the Astros’ early success is surprising is because they were the worst team in the majors last season by almost every measure.

Another Reason the Astros’ Early Success Is Probably Surprising
Another reason the Astros’ early success is probably surprising is because they have both (a) the third-lowest payroll in the majors and (b) second-youngest overall batter age.

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Episode 177
Paul Swydan is a contributor not only to the terribly erudite pages of FanGraphs, but also to ESPN and the various efforts of Major League Baseball Advanced Media. A native son of the Boston area, he’s a Red Sox fan who also worked for six years selling tickets for, and editing the team magazine of, the Colorado Rockies. Also discussed: how the heat was always on on WSBK TV-38.

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 44 min. play time.)

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Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Daily Notes.

1. Crowdsourcing Radio Broadcasters: The First 29 Ballots
2. Final Radio Crowdsourcing Ballot: Arizona
3. Today’s Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
4. Today’s Complete Schedule

Crowdsourcing Radio Broadcasters: The First 29 Ballots
Recently, we released the results of our television broadcaster rankings — itself the product of reader crowdsourcing that started in late November. Now, FanGraphs is asking readers to rate the radio broadcast teams for all 30 major-league clubs (Click here for more on this project.)

Voting for radio broadcasts will end at approximately noon on Sunday.

Below are links to the first 29 ballots (in the order they were made available), accompanied by the total number of ballots cast (as of last night) for each.

Washington: 132
Toronto: 287
Texas: 70
Tampa Bay: 79
Seattle: 111

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Episode 176
David Laurila, curator of FanGraphs’ Q&A Series, asks left-handed Oakland A’s reliever Brian Fuentes to respond to notable quotations of famous French general Napoleon Bonaparte.

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 15 min. play time.)

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Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Daily Notes.

1. Featured Game: Arizona at Washington, 19:05 ET
2. Other Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule
4. Crowdsourcing Broadcasters: Atlanta Radio

Featured Game: Arizona at Washington, 19:05 ET
Regarding a Question the Reader Might’ve Asked
A question the reader might’ve asked aloud regarding Ross Detwiler — who starts tonight for Washington — is, “What’ve you done with Ross Detwiler, Ross Detwiler?”

Regarding Why the Reader Might’ve Asked That
For comic effect, probably.

Regarding Why the Reader Might’ve Also Asked That
The reader might’ve also asked that question, on account of this is the line Detwiler has posted through four starts: 22.0 IP, 21.8% K, 6.9% BB, 66.1% GB, 2.93 SIERA, 82 xFIP-, 0.4 WAR.

Regarding How Those Numbers Compare to Detwiler’s Career Numbers
They represent a considerable improvement — to the point where one is forced to italicize the word considerable for appropriate effect.

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Episode 175
CBS Sports’ Eye on Baseball contributor and author of two books (one of them decent) Dayn Perry makes his weekly appearance on this morning edition of FanGraphs Audio. Owing, however, to the ill health of the host — who is also tasked with writing these dumb capsule previews — the actual “content” of said episode remains decidedly foggy.

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 42 min. play time.)

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