The Lineup Tracker is the latest addition to our RosterResource collection at FanGraphs. This newest feature is an extension of our “Projected Go-To Lineups vs RHP” on the RosterResource depth charts, allowing readers to pick up on trends by providing a regularly updated look at where every player has batted in the order and lined up defensively throughout the season. The link to this feature can be found in the RosterResource drop-down menu under “In-Season Tools”.

I’ll be explaining the Lineup Tracker in detail on today’s episode of The RosterResource Show, which will air live at 4:30 PM PT/7:30 PM ET on Twitch and the FanGraphs homepage. It will be the first topic covered.

As has been the case with the last few RosterResource additions, including the Closer Depth Chart, Transaction Tracker, and Injury Report, we have several ideas that would improve this feature once we circle back around for upgrades. We have only one remaining feature to build — the Schedule Grid/Probable Starting Pitchers — that had been part of the RosterResource website prior to joining FanGraphs. Read the rest of this entry »

Our Membership prices are increasing next week, making this is the last week to be grandfathered into our existing Membership prices, which as I noted when I announced our spring Membership Drive, will remain the same until at least 2023:

Starting June 1, we’re going to raise our prices from $50 to $60 for Ad Free Membership, from $20 to $25 for yearly Membership, and from $3 to $5 for monthly Membership. Please note: If you are an existing Member and maintain your Membership, your pricing will not change until at least 2023. Likewise, if you subscribe between now and June 1, you’ll be grandfathered in until at least 2023, just like our existing Members. This change will only go into effect starting on June 1 for new Members.

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For the past two offseasons, our Offseason Transaction Tracker has been active, allowing readers to easily keep up with each team’s additions and subtractions leading up to Opening Day, as well as the free agent market and arbitration decisions. We’ve now added a Regular Season Transaction Tracker to help you keep up with all of the roster changes that take place on a daily basis, as well as expected future moves.

The link to the tracker can be found in the RosterResource drop-down menu under “In-Season Tools” and in the group of tabs at the top of any RosterResource page.

Read the rest of this entry »

KBO data is again updating daily on FanGraphs! We expect that all data should be updated around 12 AM ET following the previous day’s games.

In addition to bringing back KBO data for the 2021 season, we’ve also included a number of improvements for the 2020 and 2021 seasons thanks to our friends at Sports Info Solutions.

Pitch types, velocity, Swinging Strikes (SwStr%), Swing%, Contact%, First pitch strikes (F-Strike%), Called Strikes (CStr%), and Called Strikes + Whiff Percentage (CSW%) are now available:

Read the rest of this entry »

We are excited to announce that we are re-launching The FanGraphs newsletter! It’s been a while since our last issue was published, but building off the strong foundation set by Emma Baccellieri and Mina Dunn, we hope to once again become a small part of your daily baseball routine.

We all subscribe to a bunch of newsletters, and inevitably, many end up sitting in our inboxes unread, which is why we hope to make this newsletter a little different. It won’t just be a link dump of articles to make you navigate to our site. We want it to be something useful, whether you are a diehard baseball fan, a fantasy player, or someone who simply wants a summary of the latest news.

Each weekday, you will receive an email that highlights the day’s top stories, topics that everyone around baseball is talking about. We will provide you with the latest scores and playoff odds, and note the previous day’s top performers. We will also update you on injuries and roster moves. Read the rest of this entry »

With Opening Day around the corner, I wanted to update our readers on the current state of the site and make a few Membership announcements. This time last year, we weren’t sure if FanGraphs was going to last another two months, let alone survive long enough to see the start of the 2021 season. The pandemic fast-tracked what was supposed to be a much slower shift in our business model from advertising to Membership, and because of this, we are more reliant on your support than ever. So first things first: thank you! I can say with complete certainty that we would not be here without you; our readers and members literally make FanGraphs possible.

And your support hasn’t just kept us afloat; it’s helped us build a better FanGraphs. Over the past year, we’ve added a lot of new content and features to the site. We’ve incorporated Statcast stats into our player pages and leaderboards and new game and season stat aggregation capabilities to our player page dashboards. We now have KBO stats on the site, an offering we plan to expand this season. We’ve updated our auction calculator and implemented new RosterResource features. We’ve invested in behind-the-scenes improvements to make site features better and easier to use. Today, we announced a number of new contributor voices at FanGraphs and will do so at RotoGraphs soon. And as an exclusive benefit for our Members, you can now view the site in Dark mode and Classic mode.

Tuesday is the start of what is now a very important month for the site. On March 30, 2020, we asked for your help in weathering the pandemic. As such, a significant portion of our Membership base is up for renewal in the coming weeks. If you’re an existing Member and have stuck with us through the last year, we hope that you will continue to support what we do here at FanGraphs. If you’re not a Member, we hope you’ll become one. It’s the best way to support all of the content and tools you rely on to help you enjoy the baseball season, and ensure we can keep improving the site. Read the rest of this entry »

The latest addition to our RosterResource collection at FanGraphs is the Closer Depth Chart. While it is not quite the finished product yet — we will be adding filters and sorting capability in the near future and also welcome any feedback or suggestions you have — this version has plenty of relevant information on one page.

What information is included?

Many teams either use a closer committee or do not name a closer, leaving us to make assumptions about who their closer is. As such, there are as many as six pitchers listed for each team, as well as any notable relievers on the Injured List or Restricted List. With the information provided, we can make an educated guess about who could get a save chance on a particular day. On the report, you’ll see the following:

• THR: Left (L) or Right (R) handed.
• Projected Role: Closer, Closer Committee, Co-Closer, Setup Man, Middle Reliever, Injured List, Restricted List.
• Pitcher Usage: Last six days of usage, including pitch count, save (Sv), hold (H), blown save (BS), win (W), loss (L), Injured List (IL), Injured/Active (Inj), and Alternate Site/Minors (AAA).
• 2021 Stats: vFA (fastball velocity), vSI (sinker or cutter velocity), appearances, innings pitched, ERA, saves, holds, K/9, and K%.
• Tags (listed next to the player’s name): Unavailable (black square), High Usage Alert (blue square), On The Hot Seat (red square), Reliever On The Rise (green upward pointing arrow).

“Unavailable” means that a pitcher has officially been ruled out of pitching out of the bullpen on that day due to injury, workload, or being named as the “opener” or spot starter.

“High Usage Alert” means that a reliever is coming off a 20-plus pitch day, or pitching on at least two consecutive days or three out of four days. It doesn’t mean that a pitcher has been ruled out for that particular day.

“On The Hot Seat” means that a closer or high-profile setup man could be in danger of being demoted from their current role due to poor performance.

“Reliever On The Rise” means that a pitcher is performing at a high level and is likely moving up the bullpen hierarchy.

How often is the closer depth chart updated?

Updates on projected roles are often made in real-time while games are still in progress. Others are made after an injury or a bullpen-related comment by a manager.

Tags and bullpen usage are updated each morning before any games are played.

What Additions Will Be Made?

Filters and sorting capability are the main features we plan to add in the near future. This will allow readers to view only closers or “Relievers On The Rise,” for example, or remove all closers with a “High Usage Alert.” We will also be adding an extra column with each team’s opponent for that day.

Anything else we add or change will be a result of reader feedback and suggestions. Please use the comment section to let us know what you like or dislike about the Closer Depth Chart, and what other information you’d like to see.

Over the past week, we’ve added xBA, xSLG, xwOBA and xERA to our player pages. Now these Statcast stats are on the leaderboards, too!

One important thing to note is that these stats are only available as full-season for the time being. That means there are a number of instances where they will be blank to avoid presenting inaccurate data. Here are the main cases for which these stats will not display:

• If a player changes teams mid-season, and you want to see these stats for his time with only one of his teams.
• If a pitchers pitches as both a starter and reliever, and you want to see these stats for his innings or games in only one of those roles.
• Anything that isn’t player-specific, such as team totals or league totals.
• Multi-season aggregates.

We’ve added Statcast’s xERA to our player pages, in the same way we added xwOBA, xBA, and xSLG last week!

xERA uses exit velocity, launch angle, and sprint speed on “topped” or “weakly hit” balls to model what a player’s ERA would look like based on the underlying characteristics of the balls in play.

Additionally, xERA has been added to the player page dashboard, and EV has been replaced with average fastball velocity (vFA).

In January, we put out an open call for contributing writers. The response we received was overwhelming. We are very grateful that so many smart, passionate baseball writers wanted to be a part of what we do here. It made for some really difficult decisions (and a rather long hiring process), but we are very excited to welcome some talented new voices to our ranks.

A quick note to those who applied but weren’t hired: please keep writing. A number of people who have worked for the site weren’t hired on their first go, but kept getting reps elsewhere on their way to making us regret having passed them by initially. Just because there wasn’t a home for you at FanGraphs this time around doesn’t mean that there won’t be one later, and in the meantime, public baseball analysis will be made better by your good words and good work.

And so, without further ado, allow me to introduce the writers whose work will soon be debuting here at the site. Read the rest of this entry »