Archive for Daily Notes

Daily Notes, In Which Evan Gattis Is Honored

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

1. SCOUT Leaderboards: Double-A Southern League
2. Today’s Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

SCOUT Leaderboards: Double-A Southern League
Regarding What Is SCOUT, First of All
SCOUT is a (likely absurd, admittedly unnecessary) metric designed by the author to assess performance in those instances — like in a minor league, for example — where small samples are ubiquitous.

The Offensive Version of SCOUT, How It’s Calculated
The offensive version of SCOUT — represented as SCOUT+, where 100 is league average and above 100 is above average — is essentially a version of wRC+, except using the three main defense-independent metrics (home-run, walk, and strikeout rates), all regressed duly*, as the inputs.

*By the method outlined here.

The Pitching Version of SCOUT, How It’s Calculated
The pitching version of SCOUT — represented as SCOUT-, where 100 is league average and below 100 represents above-average run prevention — is calculated using a version of kwERA, with regressed strikeout and walk rates as the relevant inputs.

Regarding SCOUT, One of Its Benefits
A benefit of SCOUT is it allows one to compare the relative performances of players with markedly different sample sizes.

Regarding the Southern League, Its Regular Season
The Southern League’s regular season ended on September 3rd, it appears. As such, all following numbers are final for 2012.

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Daily Notes, In Which Darin Ruf Figures Prominently

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

1. SCOUT Leaderboards: Double-A Eastern League
2. Today’s Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

SCOUT Leaderboards: Double-A Eastern League
Regarding What Is SCOUT, First of All
SCOUT is a (likely absurd, admittedly unnecessary) metric designed by the author to assess performance in those instances — like in a minor league, for example — where small samples are ubiquitous.

The Offensive Version of SCOUT, How It’s Calculated
The offensive version of SCOUT — represented as SCOUT+, where 100 is league average and above 100 is above average — is essentially a version of wRC+, except using the three main defense-independent metrics (home-run, walk, and strikeout rates), all regressed duly*, as the inputs.

*By the method outlined here.

The Pitching Version of SCOUT, How It’s Calculated
The pitching version of SCOUT — represented as SCOUT-, where 100 is league average and below 100 represents above-average run prevention — is calculated using a version of kwERA, with regressed strikeout and walk rates as the relevant inputs.

Regarding SCOUT, One of Its Benefits
A benefit of SCOUT is it allows one to compare the relative performances of players with markedly different sample sizes — to compare, for example, the performance of Pirates prospect Jameson Taillon (17.0 IP, 29.0% K, 1.6 % BB) to Yankees left-hander Vidal Nuno (114.0 IP, 21.5% K, 5.8% BB).

Regarding the Eastern League, Its Regular Season
The Eastern League’s regular season ended on September 3rd, it appears. As such, all following numbers are final for 2012.

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Daily Notes, Featuring SCOUT Leaders of the PCL

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

1. SCOUT Leaderboards: Triple-A Pacific Coast League
2. Today’s Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

SCOUT Leaderboards: Triple-A Pacific Coast League
Regarding What Is SCOUT, First of All
SCOUT is a (likely absurd, admittedly unnecessary) metric designed by the author to assess performance in those instances — like in a minor league, for example — where small samples are ubiquitous.

The Offensive Version of SCOUT, How It’s Calculated
The offensive version of SCOUT — represented as SCOUT+, where 100 is league average and above 100 is above average — is essentially a version of wRC+, except using the three main defense-independent metrics (home-run, walk, and strikeout rates), all regressed duly*, as the inputs.

*By the method outlined here.

The Pitching Version of SCOUT, How It’s Calculated
The pitching version of SCOUT — represented as SCOUT-, where 100 is league average and below 100 represents above-average run prevention — is calculated using a version of kwERA, with regressed strikeout and walk rates as the relevant inputs.

Regarding SCOUT, One of Its Benefits
A benefit of SCOUT is it allows one to compare the relative performances of players with markedly different sample sizes — to compare, for example, the performance of Colorado prospect Edwar Cabrera (31.2 IP, 29.3% K, 9.0% BB) to St. Louis’s Shelby Miller (136.2 IP, 26.7% K, 8.4% BB).

Regarding the Pacific Coast League, Its Regular Season
The Pacific Coast League’s regular season ended on September 3rd, it appears. As such, all following numbers are final for 2012.

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Daily Notes, With SCOUT Leaders of the Intl. League

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

1. SCOUT Leaderboards: Triple-A International League
2. Today’s Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

SCOUT Leaderboards: Triple-A International League
Regarding What Is SCOUT, First of All
SCOUT is a (likely absurd, admittedly unnecessary) metric designed by the author to assess performance in those instances — like in a minor league, for example — where small samples are ubiquitous.

The Offensive Version of SCOUT, How It’s Calculated
The offensive version of SCOUT — represented as SCOUT+, where 100 is league average and above 100 is above average — is essentially a version of wRC+, except using the three main defense-independent metrics (home-run, walk, and strikeout rates), all regressed duly*, as the inputs.

*By the method outlined here.

The Pitching Version of SCOUT, How It’s Calculated
The pitching version of SCOUT — represented as SCOUT-, where 100 is league average and below 100 represents above-average run prevention — is calculated using a version of kwERA, with regressed strikeout and walk rates as the relevant inputs.

Regarding SCOUT, One of Its Benefits
A benefit of SCOUT is it allows one to compare the relative performances of players with markedly different sample sizes — to compare, for example, the performance of Detroit minor leaguer Adam Wilk (who posted a 21.5% K and 4.7% BB in 149.2 IP) to Pittsburgh’s Phil Irwin (31.5% K and 7.9% BB in 21.0 IP).

Regarding the International League, Its Regular Season
The International League’s regular season ended on September 3rd, it appears. As such, all following numbers are final for 2012.

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Daily Notes, Featuring a Not Unimportant Game in LA

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

1. Featured Game: Detroit at Los Angeles AL, 15:35 ET
2. Other Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

Featured Game: Detroit at Los Angeles AL, 15:35 ET
Regarding This Game What’s Notable About It
A thing that’s notable about this game between the Tigers and Angels is how it’s not unimportant so far as the postseason fate of each of the named teams is concerned.

Regarding the Tigers, Their Playoff Odds
According to Cool Standings, Detroit currently has a 32.4% chance of making the playoffs: a 29.3% probability of winning the AL central and 3.1% one of qualifying for the wild-card game.

Regarding the Angels, Their Playoff Odds
According to the same helpful internet source cited above, Los Angeles’s playoff odds are currently at 36.3%, including a 2.2% chance of winning the AL West and 34.1% one of qualifying for the wild-card game.

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Daily Notes, Featuring an Executive Decision

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

1. Featured Game: Texas at Tampa Bay, 19:10 ET
2. Today’s MLB.TV Free Game
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

Featured Game: Texas at Tampa Bay, 19:10 ET
Regarding What’s Necessary, Sometimes
Sometimes a thing that’s necessary is what’s commonly referred to as an “executive decision.”

Regarding an “Executive Decision,” When It’s Necessary
An executive decision is necessary if someone’s drowning, probably, in a pool. Someone needs to be like, “Hey, let’s save that person.”

Regarding an “Executive Decision,” When Else It’s Necessary
Another time an executive decision is necessary is also if someone’s drowning in a secluded and beautiful private lake — like in Maine, or something. An independent-minded sort, one whose character has been commended from an early age, must announce, “Despite the dangers to our own, individual persons, we are bound by a moral imperative to rescue this imperiled swimmer from his own grievous and watery grave.”

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Daily Notes, Featuring Maximum Scherzer Coverage

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

1. Featured Game: Detroit at Los Angeles AL, 22:05 ET
2. Other Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

Featured Game: Detroit at Los Angeles AL, 22:05 ET
Regarding the Title of This Post, Its Verity
The reader should be advised that the title of this post, which suggests that what follows contains the exact maximum amount of coverage in re Detroit right-hander Max Scherzer, might not be entirely accurate.

Regarding This Post, Its Actual Amount of Scherzer Coverage
In truth, this post probably has something more like 5% or 3% of the total possible Scherzer coverage available.

Regarding the Author’s Indulgence, What Might Have Caused It
It’s entirely possible that the author composed the title of this post amidst a flight of enthusiasm — the sort of enthusiasm, in fact, with which one is filled at the prospect of Max Scherzer pitching.

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Daily Notes, Featuring Action News Reports

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

1. Action News Reports
2. Today’s Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

Action News Reports
Baseball news, reported with action.

First Player from 2012 Draft Recalled to Majors
The Los Angeles Dodgers have recalled left-hander Steven Rodriguez from Double-A Chattanooga just three months after selecting him 82nd overall in this year’s amateur draft, reports MLB.com’s Alex Angert. The 21-year-old Rodriguez, who attended the University of Florida, posted this line between High- and Double-A: 19.7, 14.6 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 0.0 HR/9, 0.86 FIP. According to Baseball America, Rodriguez features a “good cutter, 91-92 mph fastball, [and] plus command.” He’s expected to work in relief.

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Daily Notes: Attendance Ranks Relative to Capacity

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

1. Table: Average Per-Game Attendance Relative to Capacity
2. Today’s Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

Table: Average Per-Game Attendance Relative to Capacity
Note: it has come to the attention of the author, who is an avowed moron, not only that (a) average attendance as a percentage of capacity is available all day and all night at ESPN, but also that (b) Wendy Thurm discussed the concept last week in these very effing pages.

Regarding an Observation the Author Has Made
The author has observed that, while the absolute attendance — which is to say, the raw total — of fans at a baseball game exerts some influence over one’s experience of same, that, just as important to that experience, is the total attendance of a game relative to stadium capacity.

An Example Concerning Attendance Relative to Capacity
For some time, between 2008 and -10, the author attended a number of Portland Beavers games, then the Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. While the Beavers’ home field, PGE park, had a capacity of something like 18,000, the Beavers — especially during Portland’s generally unpleasant spring nights — frequently only had attendance totals of two or three thousand. The effect was to make the games seem less urgent or immediate somehow.

A Second Example Concerning Attendance Relative to Capacity
More recently, the author has attended a number of games at Madison’s Warner Park, home of the Northwoods League’s Madison Mallards. The park has a listed capacity of ca. 7,500 and averages over 6,000 fans a per game. More than the overall attendance it is the absence of empty seats at Mallards game that compels the author to feel as though he’s at a proper event.

A Question the Author Asked
The author asked himself a question very similar to this one — namely, “Which major-league clubs feature the greatest average attendance as measured by a percentage of stadium capacity?”

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Daily Notes: Three Callups Who Aren’t Jurickson Profar

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

1. List: Three September Callups Who Aren’t Jurickson Profar
2. Today’s Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

List: Three September Callups Who Aren’t Jurickson Profar
First of All, Regarding What Is a Callup
A callup is a call-up — as in, September call-up — with the hyphen removed, so’s to confine the entirety of this post’s title to a single line.

Second of All, Also Regarding the Title of This Post
Provided enough space, the author would likely have titled this post something to the effect of “Daily Notes, Featuring Three Notable September Call-Ups Who Aren’t Jurickson Profar,” with a view, that is, to emphasizing how the following prospects are notable in their own right — in addition, that is, to simply being not Jurickson Profar.

Regarding Jurickson Profar, Who That Even Is
In the event that the reader is unfamiliar with him, here’s who Jurickson Profar is: the shortstop prospect in the Rangers system who (a) was ranked first overall on our Marc Hulet’s midseason top-50 prospect list and (b) homered in his first major-league plate appearance (action video).

The Aforementioned Three Other Call-Ups
Here are three notable prospects to’ve been promoted in September so far who are not also Jurickson Profar:

Player: Didi Gregorius, SS, CIN
Line: 558 PA, .267/.325/.396 (.304 BABIP) at Double- and Triple-A
Notes: Gregorius has been overshadowed, probably, owing to the presence both of Zack Cozart (the young and current starting shortstop) and Billy Hamilton (the very fast, but perhaps defensively inadequate, shortstop prospect) in the Reds system. Reports suggestt that the latter of that tandem will play mostly outfield at the Arizona Fall League this, uh, fall — and, provided he acquits him decently, is maybe a better fit there for the long-term. Gregorius has reached Triple-A as a 22-year-old, which is generally a promising thing.

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