FanGraphs Baseball

In the age of the shift, it takes a lot for a particular defensive alignment to merit real attention.

But over the weekend, the Diamondbacks managed to do just that, utilizing what appears to be the most dramatic shift in recent history — notable even more so because the park at which they did it, Coors Field, features one of the game’s largest outfields.

We’ve seen about every variety of infield shift over the last four years, but we’ve never witnessed anything quite like what the Diamondbacks employed against DJ LeMahieu.

That gets your attention. That is bold.

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A few weeks ago, colleague Jeff Sullivan wrote that Tommy Pham is the best player on the Cardinals. It’s hard to argue. With a month to go in what has been a breakout season, the 29-year-old outfielder is slashing .311/.407/.522, and he has 19 home runs in 431 plate appearances. He attributes his success to two things.

“Vision,” said Pham. “I got my contacts squared away this year, and that’s helped me improve tremendously. I’d say we could start there. The other thing is that I’ve put myself in a position to where I’m playing every day. In previous years I played for stretches, but then I’d sit on the bench. Last year I had an .870 OPS in the middle of August, then I basically became a designated pinch hitter. In 2015, I had an .824 OPS in my rookie season. I’ve always produced. It’s just that I’m playing every day now, so you get to see more.”

His production has never been better, and seeing the ball better is clearly helping.

“Just look at the numbers, man — I was striking out 38% last year,” stated Pham, who elaborated that depth perception was the issue. “Now I’m striking out 15% less. That means I’m putting more balls in play, which means I’m going to have better results.”

He’s well-versed in more than just probability. The Las Vegas native is a big believer in using any and all data to his advantage. Pham — an affirmed FanGraphs reader — studies his stat page to see which aspects of his game need improvement. If data shows that he’s a negative in a specific area, he strives to turn it into a positive. Read the rest of this entry »

Episode 763
The average American man is roughly 5-foot-9 and 195 pounds. The most notable major-league player with those measurements isn’t actually American, but he is a catcher. Because American men have the body of a catcher. This revelation and others on this edition of FanGraphs Audio featuring Jeff Sullivan.

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Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @cistulli on Twitter.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio after the jump. (Approximately 45 min play time.)

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Each week, we publish north of 100 posts on our various blogs. With this post, we hope to highlight 10 to 15 of them. You can read more on it here. The links below are color coded — green for FanGraphs, brown for RotoGraphs, dark red for The Hardball Times and blue for Community Research.
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Ben Lindbergh and Jeff Sullivan banter about the strong response to their raffle for Hurricane Harvey relief, the Justin Verlander trade, a new NCAA softball rule, and the Padres relative to the NL’s other worst teams, then bring on FanGraphs writer Eno Sarris and former Red Sox outfielder (and owner of one major league hit) Alex Hassan to discuss whether an average non-athlete could get a hit in an MLB season.

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Although St. Louis’s 67-66 record puts them 5.0 games out of a Wild Card berth, our projections continue to give them a still-realistic 13.0% chance at cracking the playoffs due to the talent on their roster. Mike Leake wasn’t helping much, as the veteran righty had allowed at least four runs in each of his last four starts, yielding a protuberant 10.24 ERA. St. Louis had apparently seen enough, trading Leake to Seattle. In his place, they’ve called up top prospect Jack Flaherty to make his major-league debut tonight at San Francisco. Flaherty ranked No. 57 on Eric Longenhagen’s updated top-100 list.

Flaherty was nothing short of excellent in the minors this year, pitching to a stellar 2.18 ERA in 25 starts between Double-A and Triple-A. Most impressively, he struck out 25% of opposing batters while walking just 6%. If you’re looking for a nit to pick, it’s that Flaherty isn’t much of a ground-ball pitcher and, largely as a result, was a little homer-prone in his 15 Triple-A starts. But otherwise, his recent minor-league track record is impeccable.

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There has been a changing of the guard in the American League as we have a new run differential leader: The Cleveland Indians (+155).

The Indians, thanks to an outstanding August, have jumped the Houston Astros (+153), the AL’s top club of the first half, and have possession of the game’s No. 2 run differential, trailing only the Los Angeles Dodgers (+209). The Indians completed a 19-9 record for August with a sweep of the Yankees on Wednesday, and posted a plus-58 run differential for the month. Read the rest of this entry »

Maybe you’ve noticed that Masahiro Tanaka is a little different these days. His recent good stretch has coincided with a trend we noticed a while back: he’s not really throwing the fastball any more. He’s not alone on the Yankees — it looks like it’s a team-wide phenomenon. But is it working for every Yankee?

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As FanGraphs managing editor Dave Cameron wrote Wednesday, we are seeing fewer “bewildering” transactions in baseball these days. Many teams are thinking in similar ways, hiring similar people, and using similar information to make decisions. While that makes for more efficient decision making, it also makes for fewer controversial and/or head-scratching decisions.

While relatively minor in scope, we were given an unusual transaction when the Pirates — who have fallen out of contention — elected to place Juan Nicasio on irrevocable outright waivers this week, not revocable waivers, which teams usually employ this time of year to pass players through waivers but are able to pull them back if claimed. Read the rest of this entry »

Touching base to let Fangraphs readers know that this is my last piece in this space.

Just got back from recharging my batteries with my family (including Biscuit, the Wonder Dog) at Brigantine, New Jersey, just north of Atlantic City. Plenty of time for thinking, reflecting, etc., and pondering the future. For me, it has become clear that I need to turn my full focus toward getting back into baseball, with a club, where I can best use my combination of scouting and analytical experience and expertise.

That is going to take time and my much more undivided attention. It has been extremely rewarding to put my thoughts and ideas into print here at FanGraphs over the last few years, but honestly, it’s not enough baseball for me. It’s time to go back to work.

Many thanks to David Appelman for giving me the opportunity to write under the FanGraphs banner. Dave Cameron, you were the guy who encouraged me from the very beginning; deepest thanks to you, as well. Carson Cistulli has been my primary editor and contact for the past couple of years. You always had time and a witty rejoinder for me. Paul Swydan was always there to pick up the ball in a tough spot. It has been a pleasure to work alongside the entire FanGraphs staff. Wherever the road takes me, I look forward to remaining in contact with my colleagues.

Lastly, and most importantly, to the readers. Thank you, from the heart. I have connected with many of you via email to discuss my articles, to thank you for pointing out the (hopefully) rare typos that slipped through the process. We are unified by our love for this great game of ours. The game, the way it is played, the way is it covered and analyzed, continually changes. But at its core, it will always hold us close. I’ll see you all down the road, hopefully soon. Be sure to say hello.

Tony