Greetings, friends and readers.

My name is Michael Baumann, and I’m the newest full-time member of the FanGraphs staff. If the name rings a bell, it’s probably because you remember the losing pitcher in the first game of Monday’s Orioles-Blue Jays doubleheader. Unfortunately that’s a different, much taller Mike Baumann. (Though I’ve met Big Mike, and he seems like a nice guy. What a fastball he’s got.)

From 2016 until last week, I was a staff writer at The Ringer, where for six years I hosted The Ringer MLB Show. Before that, I worked at D1Baseball, Baseball Prospectus, and Grantland. Over that time I’ve appeared periodically on both FanGraphs Audio and Effectively Wild; if you remember some joker with a Philly accent explaining to Ben how hockey works or ranting at Meg about the lockout, that was probably me. I’m an Aries, and in my free time I enjoy cooking, watching TikToks about seals, and reading nonfiction books about people doing ludicrously dangerous things in the early 20th century. Read the rest of this entry »

We are launching a new FanGraphs mobile app, which is available for both iOS and Android devices. You may remember our previous attempt at an iOS app over a decade ago, but this is a completely new app that more closely reflects our website, built with a native mobile experience specifically for phones in mind.

The app is free to download, but similar to our website, it has ads unless you are signed in as a FanGraphs Member. Any customization features in the app will also only be available to Members.

As we launch today, the app has player pages, scores, and standings available. We plan on adding more features from the site in the future. Read the rest of this entry »

Part-time Junior Front End Developer

We are looking for a remote, part-time contract front end developer to help maintain and develop FanGraphs’ website and data tools. We will consider any developer background, but most work will be done in JavaScript and React.

If you have any coding experience, please do not hesitate to apply!

We’re looking for someone with creativity and a user-centric mindset, as well as an appetite for learning and growth.

The position will entail about 10-20 hours of work a week, with some flexibility in terms of schedule. Read the rest of this entry »

FanGraphs is now accepting applications to join our staff as a full-time writer.

We’re looking for someone who can provide daily insight about the ins and outs of what is happening in the game. From free agent signings to statistical analysis, teams’ top prospects to in-game strategy, highlights to lowlights, we want to cover it all. Familiarity and comfort with the data here at FanGraphs is a requirement, but just as importantly, we’re looking for a writer who can generate their own ideas and questions while providing interesting analysis and commentary on the game of baseball. Read the rest of this entry »

FanGraphs is now accepting applications to join our staff as a contributing writer.

Contributors typically write two to three times a week. Familiarity and comfort with the data here on FanGraphs is a requirement, but just as importantly, we’re looking for writers who can generate their own ideas and questions while providing interesting analysis or commentary on the game of baseball. From free agent signings to statistical analysis, teams’ top prospects to in-game strategy, highlights to lowlights, we want to cover it all. Sometimes we do that with a bit of silliness; other times, we’re more serious. But what all of our work has in common is a commitment to asking interesting questions and using rigor, creativity, and the latest analytical tools to find the answers for our readers. Read the rest of this entry »

4/23 Update: It has come to our attention that in the switch to Statcast Fielding Runs Prevented (RAA), outfield positional adjustments were being improperly applied. This has now been corrected by zeroing out RAA for each individual position, on a seasonal basis, specifically for use in WAR. The tables below have been updated to include this correction.

Since we launched FanGraphs WAR in 2008, we have used various components of Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) such as Range, Outfield Arm, and Double Play Conversion to evaluate position player fielding. Today, we’re changing one of those components. Retroactive to the 2016 season, we have swapped out the Range component of UZR for the Statcast metric Fielding Runs Prevented, which is Outs Above Average (OAA) converted to runs above average. The UZR Outfield Arm and Double Play Conversion components of WAR remain unchanged.

We believe the additional data points available in Statcast, such as a fielder’s starting location, help to improve the measurement of a player’s range, especially in situations where players are shifted.

The vast majority of players’ new WAR calculations fall within a +/-1 WAR range of their previous WAR figures. Since 2016, there are 49 individual seasons that have changed by more than one win, and 14 players whose WAR has changed by more than three wins for the entire six year span starting in 2016. Read the rest of this entry »

For your amusement (and your amusement only), we’ve put together two on-pace leaderboards.

As some of the season totals you’ll see there will likely make obvious, these leaderboards are a good illustration of why it isn’t great to draw conclusions from small samples.

There are two varieties of on-pace leaderboards available:

• On-Pace Every Game Played (EGP) projects future playing time as if the player will play in every single remaining game this season. For pitchers, it projects starters to pitch every 4.5 days and relievers to pitch every 2.5 days. This is calculated proportional to their current season games started to games played ratio.
• On-Pace Games Played% (GP%) projects playing time as if the player will play in the same percentage of total future team games as they’ve already played in this season. For instance, if a player has played in five of their team’s 10 total games, we would project them to play in 76 future games.

Needless to say, neither of these attempts to project future playing time is any good, but that’s fine! These aren’t intended to be smart — they’re just dumb on-pace metrics that we should all know have no basis in reality at this point in the season.

If you are interested in forecasting what a player’s actual end of season stats might be, I suggest taking a look at either the Steamer (Update) or ZiPS (Update) projections. These projections add together a player’s existing stats and Rest of Season (RoS) projections for a much more realistic look at what a player’s end of season stats might actually be.

Enjoy!

The MLB Statcast fielding metric Outs Above Average (OAA) is now available on player pages in the “Advanced Fielding” section and on the leaderboards. We’ve also included the accompanying Fielding Runs Prevented metric (RAA), which is OAA converted to runs above average. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m sorry this has taken so long. I saw your tweets wondering where I was and when the next podcast would post, but I couldn’t say anything yet. When you go to work for a team, getting from agreeing to terms to actually starting involves dotting all sorts of I’s and crossing all sorts of T’s.

But now I can tell you that last week, I accepted a position with the Minnesota Twins. I’ll be serving as the team’s Special Assistant, Player Personnel; my streak of baseball titles that contain a comma continues. I will be providing individual player assessments, as well as broader process advice across the team’s international, pro, and amateur player evaluation groups. The role is similar to the one I had in Houston. I used to joke that I had the best job in the organization, only I wasn’t joking. I didn’t think I’d get to say that again while working for a team, but getting to know the front office group in Minnesota convinced me that it was time to step back into the fray. They’re an incredible group of people and I can’t wait to be a part of the organization.

I had plenty of discussions with other teams during my year-plus away from that side of the industry. I turned down some deeper talks and one out-of-the-blue job offer, but it just never felt right. Maybe it was me, maybe it was them, maybe it wasn’t the time. Quite frankly, I was at peace with never working for a team again. That’s not even the right phrase. I was exceptionally happy working at FanGraphs, and as excited as I am to be joining the Twins, it comes with some bittersweet feelings regarding my exit from this wonderful place. Read the rest of this entry »

The FanGraphs 2022 Playoff Odds, which take into account the new 12-team playoff structure, are now available on the site. With the new structure, we want to highlight the following columns:

• Win Div – The probability the team wins their division
• Clinch Bye – The probability that the team wins their division and is one of the top two seeds in their league, thus earning a Wild Card Series bye
• Clinch Wild Card – The probability the team qualifies for the playoffs through a Wild Card berth
• Make Playoffs – The sum of Win Div + Clinch Wild Card, indicating the probability that the team qualifies for the playoff in any capacity
• Make LDS (Postseason section) – The probability the team wins the Wild Card Series or earns a bye.

Read the rest of this entry »