FanGraphs now has Pitch Info data available throughout the site. For those unfamiliar with Pitch Info data, it is best known as the pitch-type data which powers much of BrooksBaseball.net.
Pitch Info tabs and tables have replaced all PITCHf/x tabs and tables by default. This includes the leaderboards, player pages, game logs, heat maps, and pitch-type splits. All the previous PITCHf/x data is now hidden by default, but you can un-hide it by going to your profile and checking the “Show PITCHf/x Stats?” checkbox. oth PITCHf/x and Pitch Info data will be continue to be updated on a nightly basis. We expect Pitch Info data from the previous night to be loaded by around 10:30 AM ET.
If you have custom dashboards, leaderboards, or links set up to PITCHf/x data, this change will not impact any of that. All PITCHf/x links and PITCHf/x fields in custom leaderboards will continue to work as they always have. You can even combine PITCHf/x and Pitch Info data in the same custom leaderboard.
One navigation change is that the pitch-type split data has been moved under the splits tab.
And here’s some additional information about the adjustments that Pitch Info makes:
“The Pitch Classifications are manually reviewed by Pitch Info using several parameters of each pitch’s trajectory and double-checked against several other sources, such as video evidence (e.g., pitcher grip and catcher signs) and direct communication with on-field personnel (e.g., pitching coaches, catchers, and the pitchers themselves).”
Because the PITCHf/x dataset provides the details of each pitch’s trajectory, we can slightly alter the default values to align better with reality than what is commonly reported. For example, we slightly shift our reported values back to a release distance of 55′ – which more closely reflects the actual release distance of most pitchers – so that release points are more tightly clustered and velocities are slightly increased. We also provide options to visualize pitch movement with gravity added back into the equation or with the effects of air drag removed.
In this, The Year of Higher Launch Angles and Homer and Strikeout Spikes, most of the game’s marquee offensive players have joined the party. Mike Trout was Mike Trout when healthy, Bryce Harper is back, while Cody Bellinger, Aaron Judge, Miguel Sano, and others are leading the youth brigade. In the meantime, though, has anyone seen Manny Machado?
About a month ago, the Angels lost Mike Trout to injury. He’s still a few weeks away from returning. Trout’s absence was supposed to be crippling, and indeed, it probably should’ve been crippling. But one of the best active fun facts around is that, since Trout was sidelined, the Angels have played better. Now, that isn’t something I suggest you over-interpret. It doesn’t mean anything much. It doesn’t mean Trout isn’t the most valuable player in the world. It’s just a random curiosity. And, good for the Angels! What they’ve pulled off has been deeply impressive.
At this point, the Angels are very much a wild-card contender. Trout’s coming back soon. So there’s reason to look up and down the roster in an attempt to identify areas for improvement. There are still various areas of concern, but one’s eyes are drawn to Albert Pujols. Pujols, right now, has a 2017 WAR of -1.0. That’s tied for the second-lowest mark in the game. Pujols, through that lens, has been a major problem, and few of his regular numbers are any good. However, the Angels themselves have pushed back. They’ve publicly disagreed with the idea that Pujols hasn’t been useful.
Yankees second baseman Starlin Castro has landed on the DL after straining his hamstring last night. In a parallel universe, a parallel me is writing this article about Gleyber Torres, whom KATOH+ regarded as the No. 2 prospect in baseball behind Vlad Guerrero Jr. But since Torres’ season recently came to an end, the call-up goes to Tyler Wade, who is an interesting prospect in his own right.
A fifth-round pick out of high school in 2013, Wade put himself on the prospect map when he slashed .280/.343/.353 as a 20-year-old shortstop in High-A. He built upon that with a solid campaign in 2016 and hit an excellent .313/.390/.445 this year. He’s been especially hot of late, slashing .366/.455/.505 with 11 steals over his last 25 games. Wade hasn’t hit for a ton of power in the minors — his career ISO is just .085, though it ticked up to .132 this year — but he does just about everything else offensively, including making contact, drawing walks and stealing bases.
Wade has played shortstop, second base, third base and all three outfield spots this year. However, most of his reps have come at short. He hasn’t graded out well at the position by Clay Davenport’s numbers, but given how the defensive spectrum works, it stands to reason that he’d be fine at second base. The fact that he’s remained at shortstop all the way through Triple-A is telling.
Are you suffering from fatigue related to talk of the home-run surge, the prospect of a juiced ball, and the idea of an air-ball revolution? No? Excellent.
As you’re probably aware, home runs keep flying out of major-league stadiums — and, if anything, are doing so at an ever faster rate, as Jeff Sullivan documented earlier this month.
Rob Arthur, Mitchel Lichtman, and Ben Lindbergh have led the charge to examine the ball’s role in these matters, their most recent work appearing at The Ringer earlier this month. It’s a must-read piece. They make a compelling case that the ball is different — and playing differently. Though, as Dave noted last month, Dr. Alan Nathan suggests it’s not an “open-and-shut” case.
| 12:04 |
: Good morning from Tempe, everyone.
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| 12:05 |
: Here are today’s notes: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/instagraphs/daily-prospect-notes-627/
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| 12:05 |
: Had upload issues with the Norge Ruiz video overnight. I’ll tweet a link when it’s up so you can all get a peak.
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| 12:05 |
: Alright, let’s do it.
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| 12:05 |
: Who are some of the biggest non-top-100 prospect movers this year so far?
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| 12:07 |
: Bo Bichette, Jesus Sanchez, Jack Flaherty, some of Philly’s arms probably move into the 100. I could sit here and come up with another dozen or so that moved up because of graduations ahead of them.
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Mound visits have long been a part of the game. They happen for a variety of reasons, but with one constant: whether it’s the catcher or the pitching coach who jogs to the hill, the ensuing confab delays the action. And while the delay is typically short of duration — the home plate umpire does his best to ensure that — the idiom “straw that broke the camel’s back” exists for a reason. In the opinion of more and more people, enough is enough when it comes to repeated trips to the mound.
Pace of play is an increasingly important issue for MLB, and some — commissioner Rob Manfred among them — have suggested limiting, if not entirely eliminating, mound visits. Fans would certainly be on board with such a change, but what about the people who be directly affected?
With the help of colleague Eno Sarris, I asked a cross section of players — mostly pitchers and catchers — the following question: “Just how important are mound visits, and how much would limiting, or even doing away with them, impact the game?”
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Larry Andersen, Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster: “I don’t know if you can get rid of them. If you have a starting staff like the Phillies had five years ago, with Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and the like, then you don’t need the mound visits. Those guys were experienced veterans who knew how to slow the game down and make adjustments on the fly. But if you have a staff like we do now — a lot of these guys are young and don’t know how to slow things down. They need to be led a little bit. They need to be helped out. They need to be given a break.
“It’s hard to say that mound visits shouldn’t be allowed, but there are also times where… we had one recently where a pitching coach went out to the mound with two outs in the ninth inning when we brought up a pinch-hitter. It was a four-run game, and there was no one on. I mean, is that really necessary? There are coaches going out simply to give relievers more time. I don’t know where you draw the line, but I’d certainly like to see a line drawn.”
Daily notes on prospects from lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen. Read previous installments here.
Durin O’Linger, RHP, Boston
Level: Short Season Age: 23 Org Rank: NR Top 100: NR
Line: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 1 R, 6 K
Notes
O’Linger isn’t exactly a prospect — his fastball sits in the 86-88 range and he’ll flash an average changeup — but of note due to his recent, historic postseason run at Davidson during which the senior threw 502 pitches over six appearances in a 16-day span. Rest was not a priority for O’Linger, who was so sure he had no future in pro baseball that he was set to attend the University of Florida’s pharmacy school in the fall. The 23-year-old is pitching with house money in the New York-Penn League right now.
Devised originally in response to a challenge issued by sabermetric forefather Rob Neyer, and expanded at the request of nobody, NERD scores represent an attempt to summarize in one number (and on a scale of 0-10) the likely aesthetic appeal or watchability, for the learned fan, of a player or team or game.
How are they calculated? Haphazardly, is how. An explanation of the components and formulae which produce these NERD scores is available here. All objections to the numbers here are probably justified, on account of how this entire endeavor is absurd.
Most Highly Rated Game
St. Louis at Arizona | 21:40 ET
Martinez (100.1 IP, 80 xFIP-) vs. Walker (63.0 IP, 94 xFIP-)
The author’s haphazardly constructed algorithm has identified this game as today’s most compelling due largely to the quality of the probable starters. Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez is in the midst of his best season by whatever metric — FIP- or xFIP- or ERA- — one cares to utilize. In a not unrelated development, he’s produced what would amount to the highest strikeout rate of his career by some margin. Taijuan Walker, for his part, has recorded strikeout and walk rates commensurate with his established levels. While having traditionally underperformed his expected FIPs, however, he’s now outperforming that same metric with the D-backs.
Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: St. Louis Radio.
There, atop the home-run leaderboard for the year, are two young stars on great teams in big media markets: Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger. That’s a match made in heaven, at least for barside arguments around the country. Which one would you rather have?