FanGraphs+ Player-Profile Game: Question #2
Play the player-profile game every day this week at 1:00pm ET. We’re giving away a free annual subscription to FanGraphs+ to the first reader who guesses correctly the identity of that day’s mystery player. (Limit one copy per customer).
As the absurdly coiffed Eno Sarris announced yesterday, the newest iteration of FanGraphs+ is now available in exchange for your hard-earned money — and any other kind of money, too.
As in recent years, we’re celebrating this important Moment in History by way of the player-profile game.
Said game is easy: the author offers the text of an actual player profile from the newest iteration of FG+, being careful to omit any proper names that might reveal the identity of the player in question. The reader, in turn, attempts to identify the player using only the details provided in the profile.
First reader to guess correctly (in the comments section below) gets a free annual subscription to FanGraphs+, worth roughly the equivalent of Alec Baldwin’s watch in Glengarry Glen Ross.
Today’s entry comes to us by way of wealthy importer-exporter Mike Podhorzer.
Who is it?
Though his underlying skills were nearly identical to his 2012 season, [BLANK] parlayed better luck into an ERA that sat more than a full run lower at 3.37. Despite having a batted ball distribution that suggests a higher than league-average batting average on balls in play, excellent defensive support and good fortune kept that mark below the average, which also helped him to strand runners at a career best rate. But this is still the same pitcher as he’s always been — one with mediocre stuff who fails to induce a whole lot of swings and misses and relies on strong control and a good ground-ball rate. He should once again earn value in NL-Only leagues in 2014, but mixed leaguers should not be fooled into believing he’ll be worth a roster spot.
Subscribe to FanGraphs+ right now by clicking this long and pretty awkward hyperlinked sentence.
Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.
Mike Leake
Ding. Effing. Ding.
Well done, handsome reader.
To claim your prize, email the author at: carson [dot] cistulli [at] fangraphs [dot] com.
Mike Leake!
noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo that was like a 5 second gap.
I feel ya
Bronson Arroyo
Bronson Arroyo, groundball machine.
Mike Leake
Second day in a row I lose by mere seconds….screw you guys! 😛
Mike Leake
Awww, fourth. I think the exact ERA made it a little too easy to look up today.
That’s reasonable. I believe the questions will become more obscure as the week moves ahead. Probably. Maybe.
You should. If you googled the slash line from yesterday’s question, one of the top results was Brandon Inge’s profile page.
You should… make them more obscure.
Mike Leake
AJ Burnett?
Mike Leake
Mike Leake
Mike Leake!
Mike Leake
Madison Bumgarner
Mike Leake
Dear Carson,
Posting in an exact ERA on a site that allows you to sort by ERA isn’t a good idea.
Love,
GilaMonster
http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2013&month=0&season1=2013&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=12970&players=0
Dillon Gee?
Too easy to lookup when the only person with a 3.37 ERA on your leaderboard was Mike Leake
I feel like you should blank out specific statistics and rates for future posts just to make this a bit more difficult and interesting…
I don’t know that posting the stats affects much. It seems like if you were to go look up the ERA leader board after reading that, you would have already lost.
My Cleak!
Eric Milton?
Put up a cap with a typo in the stats! The handsome readership will undoubtedly be sent into a tailspin of confusion.
Mike Leake