Daily Notes: Nerd Stats for the U.S. WBC Roster

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

1. Nerds Stats for the United States’ Provisional WBC Team
2. Video: Craig Kimbrel Doing Whatever

Nerds Stats for the United States’ Provisional WBC Team
This past Thursday, all 16 participants in this year’s World Baseball Classic announced their provisional rosters for that same tournament (which itself begins in early March). Over the course of this week, we’ll consider the nerds stats for some of the notable WBC’s rosters, where notable is defined as “those which most interest the author on that particular morning.”

Below are the members of the United States team, accompanied by various nerd stats from the last three seasons of major-league play.

Here, first, are the field players for the US national team, sorted by WAR per every 650 plate appearances over the past three seasons:

Now, here are the US pitchers who’ve made at least 50% of their appearances in a starting capactiy, sorted by WAR per every 200 innings:

And now, here the US players who’ve pitched mostly in relief, with WAR per every 60 innings:

Notes
• All averages are simple averages — that is, not weighted by innings pitched.

• While listed here among the club’s relief pitchers, it’s entirely possible that Kris Medlen would start for the U.S. — which is to say, the role in which he ended the 2012 season for Atlanta.

• How manager Joe Torre deploys Ben Zobrist will of some interest. Despite his relatively low profile, Zobrist has been one of the best players in the majors since 2010 — better, for example, than either Adam Jones or Brandon Phillips, to whom Torre might be inclined to give starting spots.

Video: Craig Kimbrel Doing Whatever
The author appears to have found a pretense upon which to embed video of Atlanta uber-reliever Craig Kimbrel into this post. Here’s footage of Kimbrel from September, striking out four batters in a single inning of work.