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

1. A Note for the Mothers
2. Featured Game: Tampa Bay at Baltimore, 13:35 ET
3. Other Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
4. Today’s Complete Schedule

A Note for the Mothers
Please, if you would, say hello to your mother for FanGraphs.

And for Mark Wahlberg, too, if you have time:

Featured Game: Tampa Bay at Baltimore, 13:35 ET
First of All, Who’s Pitching
Pitching in this game are decorated British general James Shields (47.1 IP, 75 xFIP-, 0.4 WAR) for Tampa Bay and noted Italian avant garde filmmaker Jake Arrieta (44.2 IP, 85 xFIP-, 0.6 WAR) for Baltimore.

Read the rest of this entry »

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

1. Featured Game: Atlanta at St. Louis, 19:15 ET (Free Game)
2. Video: Adam Wainwright’s Virile Curveball
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

Featured Game: Atlanta at St. Louis, 19:15 ET
Regarding Who’s Starting Tonight for St. Louis
In terms of who’s starting tonight for St. Louis, it’s handsome and able right-hander Adam Wainwright.

Regarding Adam Wainwright, His Line So Far
In terms of Adam Wainwright and his line so far (through six starts, now), this is it: 33.2 IP, 24.3% K, 5.0% BB, 55.8% GB, 2.70 SIERA, 73 xFIP-, 0.1 WAR.

Regarding That Line Relative to Wainwright’s Career Numbers
Every number in Wainwright’s current line — with the exception of the WAR mark — would constitute a career best.

Regarding What One Guy Somewhere Is Probably Saying About That
One guy somewhere is probably saying — with regard to that comment about how Wainwright is posting career-best numbers — a guy somewhere is probably saying, “Um, sample size much?”

Read the rest of this entry »

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

1. Featured Game: Kansas City at Chicago AL, 20:10 ET
2. Lightly Annotated Video: Felipe Paulino’s Season Debut
3. Other Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
4. Today’s Complete Schedule

Featured Game: Kansas City at Chicago AL, 20:10 ET
Of Particular Note Regarding This Game
Of particular note regarding this game is that right-hander Felipe Paulino, 28, is starting it for the Royals.

Regarding Paulino, His Season Debut
Paulino made his season debut against the Yankees last Saturday after missing the first month of the season with a strained forearm — and he was excellent. Line: 6.0 IP, 23 TBF, 6 K, 2 BB, 8 GB on 15 batted-balls (53.3%), 2.40 xFIP.

Regarding Paulino, His Career So Far
For his career so far (353.2 IP, most of them since 2009), Paulino has posted basically average defense-independent numbers (98 xFIP-, 101 FIP-), with slightly above-average strikeout rates and slightly below-average walk rates.

Regarding Paulino, His Career So Far, Part II
Over his career, Paulino has been decidedly less successful in terms of overall run prevention, having posted an ERA that’s 27% worse than league average and a full run worse than his FIP over that same time (5.19 ERA, 4.14 FIP).

Read the rest of this entry »

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

1. Featured Game: Tampa Bay at New York AL, 19:05 ET (Free Game)
2. Other Notable Games
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

Featured Game: Tampa Bay at New York AL, 19:05 ET
Regarding the Big, Big Deal About This Game
The big, big deal about this game is that it’s the first so far this season to receive a NERD Game Score of 9.

Regarding What a NERD Game Score Is, For Anyone Who Doesn’t Know
For anyone who doesn’t know, NERD is intended to be a numerical representation of a team or a player or a pitcher’s aesthetic appeal, or “watchability.” (Read more about it here, if you even want to). A Game Score is the combination of the pitcher and team scores involved in a specific game.

Regarding the Number of People Denoted by “Anyone Who Doesn’t Know”
Over six billion, definitely.

Read the rest of this entry »

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

1. Featured Game: Colorado at San Diego, 15:35 ET
2. Other Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

Featured Game: Colorado at San Diego, 15:35 ET
Regarding Colorado’s Starting Pitcher
Making his major-league debut this afternoon for Colorado is left-handed and 25-year-old pitcher Christian Friedrich.

Regarding Who Is Christian Friedrich
Christian Friedrich was, at one point, a relatively celebrated prospect in the Rockies system — ranking third among Colorado minor leaguers, for example, in Baseball America’s 2009 Prospect Handbook.

Regarding Who Is Christian Friedrich, Part II
Entering the 2012 season, Friedrich was decidedly less celebrated, ranking 14th in the Colorado system, per Baseball America. And 15th, per our Marc Hulet. And 14th, according to John Sickels. And 17th, according to Rockies SB Nation blog Purple Row.

Read the rest of this entry »

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

1. Featured Game: Tampa Bay at New York AL, 19:05 ET
2. Other Notable Games (Including MLB.TV Free Game)
3. Today’s Complete Schedule

Featured Game: Tampa Bay at New York AL, 19:05 ET
Regarding This Game, How I Was Tempted to Describe It for a Second
In terms of this game between the Rays and Yankees, I was tempted momentarily to describe it as a “clash of division rivals.”

Regarding Why I Was Tempted to Do That
I was tempted to do that probably because I’ve been watching game promos on sporting networks for over 20 years — on which networks, for example, phrases like “clash of division rivals” are relatively common.

Regarding Why I Didn’t Describe It That Way
I ended up not describing it that way, because, ultimately, a person probably shouldn’t use the word clash unless he’s addressing a phalanx of hoplites, and I — for the moment, at least — am not addressing a phalanx of hoplites.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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

Read the rest of this entry »