After coming up short in 2021, the Astros are back on top of the sport with their second championship in six years. Come playoff time, Houston consistently executed its gameplan better than any other team. This year, dominance came in the form of historically effective relief pitching and timely hitting. On the whole, the Astros’ hitting wasn’t strikingly better than any other team, but when given the chance to put up enough for their bullpen to hold it down, they did that with no problem.
That last part is what has lingered in my head for the past week or so. Over the last six years, it feels as if Houston’s hitters have figured it out in big moments while other teams have stumbled. Even in this year’s tournament, when there was dominant pitching across the board, Astros hitters made the most of mistakes. And Houston could rely on a large group of guys, including but not limited to Jeremy Peña, Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, and Kyle Tucker. Compare that to teams like the Yankees and Phillies, who had to rely on just a few players throughout.
But why is that? How can Houston get timely production from any guy in the lineup while others can’t overcome their holes? I still haven’t gotten close to a definitive answer, but I think I’m making progress on a reason why. Read the rest of this entry »
Today we’re going to watch the most spectacular catches of the 2022 season. Not all of them, though; that would take too long. Instead, we’re going to skip all the exciting ones to focus on the greatest, most boring plays of the year.
Last week, I wrote about right fielders Kyle Tucker and Nick Castellanos. The latter got a great deal of ink for making sliding catches on balls Tucker likely would have gotten to easily. In this article, we’ll focus on the inverse: Players who made difficult plays look routine. The goal here is not to downplay cool diving catches, but to celebrate great plays that might have gone unappreciated. Read the rest of this entry »
Wednesday marked the return of one of baseball’s blessed traditions: Scott Boras Comedy Hour. At most major industry conferences, the sport’s most powerful agent has developed a habit of leaning against a wall in some hotel hallway with dozens of the BBWAA’s leading lights before him like children at the foot of Christ in the illustrations from a Sunday School tract. This year’s GM meetings are no exception.
Over the years, the erudite Boras has modulated the form of his address; what was once a straightforward press scrum became a vehicle for one-liners. Now, Boras uses his time to rip off a series of bodged-together puns and rhyming couplets in praise of his top clients.
It’s an odd spectacle with little precedent in American sports apart from — and I make this comparison advisedly — Muhammad Ali. But it is nevertheless an important one. Minutes after Boras got through his set, President Biden addressed the nation after Tuesday night’s pivotal midterm elections, and I was so wrapped up in Boras Chat I forgot there was another thing happening. Read the rest of this entry »
Welcome to another installment of postseason managerial report cards. In this one, we’ll look at the Yankees, whose strong start to the season ended in playoff disappointment. From a purely results-oriented standpoint, you’d be hard-pressed to find a Yankees fan giving this year’s team a passing grade.
In these report cards, I’m focusing on process instead of results as much as possible. I considered every pitching move that the team either made or chose not to make, as well as starting lineups and pinch hitting decisions. I suppose I considered batting order as well, but there’s so little value in batting order optimization that I pretty much gave every manager a perfect grade there.
Managers do far more than simply choosing who to put in the game and when to do so. Their role in helping players get prepared and keeping everyone on the same page with regards to team strategy is more important, particularly over the course of a full season, than anything I’m getting into here. I can’t see those decisions, though, and I can see these. What’s more, the postseason amplifies single-game decisions; with so few contests compared to the long haul of a full season, each squandered point of win expectancy feels like a catastrophe. With that lens in mind, let’s take a look at New York’s finest. Read the rest of this entry »
That’s right, we have reached our four-digit milestone. Look back through the years with us before we look to the future (or at least this upcoming offseason).
After that bit of history, Ben and Dan look to the offseason and discuss our Top 50 Free Agents list. They talk about Edwin Díaz‘s surprisingly big contract with the Mets, how wild Aaron Judge‘s upcoming deal this winter could be, what the Red Sox might or maybe should do, and how they feel they have underrated Brandon Nimmo. Ben and Dan also look at Craig Kimbrel’s spot at No. 50 on the list and who else might have fit there. [25:59]
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Department: Research & Development, Baseball Operations Reports To: Director, Baseball Analytics
Role:
The Chicago Cubs are seeking analysts to join the Baseball Analytics group in the Baseball Operations’ Research and Development team. This role will focus on constructing models that estimate skills, likelihoods, and contexts for various baseball phenomena. The analyst will work closely with the entirety of the R&D department to develop methods to process data, improve the effective understanding and application of data, and disseminate analytic insights throughout the organization. Analysts may focus their efforts towards collaborating with the Advanced Scouting, Amateur Scouting, International Scouting, Professional Scouting, Baseball Sciences, or Player Development groups, as strengths dictate.
Responsibilities:
Create data modeling pipelines that maintain up-to-date predictions of a variety of baseball metrics
Analyze collected data leveraging in-house models and insights
Research, develop, and test methods and models for the purpose of player assessment, development, and acquisition, as well as the optimization of in-game strategy
Effectively present analyses using written reports and data visualization methods to communicate relevant findings
Work with Baseball Systems team to integrate new statistical analyses, models, and data visualizations into Cubs web applications
Incorporate new analysis into existing data processes to improve automated reporting
Identify, diagnose, and resolve data quality issues
Conduct in-depth evaluations of amateur and professional prospects
Handle data and analysis requests from the coaching staff and other departments within Baseball Operations
Desired Qualifications:
Bachelor’s or advanced degree in a quantitative field such as statistics, engineering, mathematics, physics, quantitative social sciences, computer science, or operations research
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Proficiency with SQL, and at least one statistical programming language (e.g., Julia, MATLAB, Python, R)
Working knowledge of advanced baseball statistics
Familiarity with advanced statistical modeling techniques
Department: Baseball Operations: Research & Development – Baseball Systems Reports To: Architect, Baseball Systems
Role:
The Chicago Cubs Baseball Systems Department is seeking to fill a Baseball Systems Fellow position. This role will focus on assisting the development and maintenance of the Chicago Cubs baseball information system data warehouse, including creating web interfaces and web tools for the user interface; building automated ETL processes which feed it; maintaining back-end databases; and troubleshooting data sources issues as needed. This role will collaborate with software engineers, data analysts, and other internal users in their use of the Cubs’ systems and data warehouse.
Responsibilities:
Assist in the design and implementation of web interfaces for the Baseball Ops information system • Assist with building data visualizations for baseball users.
Assist with design and implementation of mobile application features
Assist with the development and maintenance of ETL processes.
Identify, diagnose, and resolve data quality issues
Required Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering or Related Subjects
Expertise with modern database technologies and SQL
Expertise in Python, Java, C# or a similar language
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
High level of attention to detail
Desired Qualifications:
In progress Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering or Related Quantitative Subjects
Familiarity with modern database technologies and SQL
Familiarity with Python, Java, C++ or another object-oriented language
Familiarity with front-end web development, including HTML, CSS, and Javascript
Department: Research & Development, Baseball Operations Reports To: Director, Baseball Sciences
Role:
The Chicago Cubs are seeking an analyst to join the Baseball Sciences group in the Baseball Operations’ Research and Development department. This role will focus on improving our understanding of player performance through the analysis of various data sources and technologies, including motion capture, force plates, wearable sensors, and S&C assessments. The analyst will be responsible for performing quantitative research on existing data while also helping the organization identify novel technologies or initiatives that could lead to further insight. The ideal candidate will possess strong quantitative skills, the ability to think critically and creativity, domain-specific knowledge/experience, and the ability to communicate effectively to non-technical stakeholders.
Responsibilities:
Perform quantitative research to better understand and quantify player performance
Identify and evaluate new technologies and assessments
Work with the Baseball Analytics group to integrate Baseball Science research into player valuation models
Communicate research insights to various departments and stakeholders—including coaches, scouts, trainers, and S&C staff
Collaborate with Player Development to design/oversee initiatives that can help answer research hypotheses
Stay up to date with academic literature and public research
Desired Qualifications:
Bachelor’s or advanced degree in either a quantitative field (statistics, engineering, physics, computer science, etc.) or a domain-specific field (biomechanics, exercise science, neuroscience, etc.)
Proficiency with SQL and at least one statistical programming language (Julia, MATLAB, Python, R)
Familiarity with advanced statistical modeling and machine learning techniques
Experience analyzing motion capture data or other relevant time-series data sources
Department: Baseball Systems Reports To: Director, Baseball Systems
Role:
The Chicago Cubs Baseball Systems Department is seeking to fill a Baseball Systems Data Quality Engineer position. This role will focus on the import and maintenance of the Chicago Cubs baseball information system data warehouse, including building automated ETL processes which feed it; maintaining back-end databases; automating data quality checks; and troubleshooting data source issues. This role will collaborate with software engineers and data analysts in their use of the Cubs’ data warehouse.
Responsibilities:
Develop and maintain ETL processes for loading and processing new data sources
Create automated processes to identify data integrity problems
Diagnose and resolve data source issues
Required Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering or Related Subjects
Expertise with modern database technologies and SQL
Expertise in Python, Java, C# or a similar language
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
High level of attention to detail
Desired Qualifications:
Experience building and supporting ETL processes
Experience with Airflow or related scheduling tools
Experience working in a Linux environment
Experience working with cloud-based computing
Working knowledge of advanced baseball statistics and sabermetric concepts
“Hey, Joe, first time long time, thanks for having me on.”
“I hear you want to talk some Phillies. What’s on your mind, brother?”
“Joe, the Phils gotta get rid of Rhys Hoskins. I know he’s been around a while and people say he’s a nice guy but I just can’t stand to watch him anymore. He struck out 10 times in the World Series, he drops every third ball that comes to him, he’s the reason we lost!”
“Well Mike, most of the Phillies lineup went missing at the end of the Wo—”
“I HATE HIS STINKING GUTS JOE! I CAN’T STAND TO LOOK AT HIM!”
“So you want to trade him, then?”
“I do, Joe. Hoskins only has one year left before free agency, and we can’t lose him for nothing. Look, Nola was pretty bad in the World Series too. Maybe we can trade Hoskins for a no. 2 starter? How about that kid from San Diego, Musgraves? Yeah, Hoskins to the Padres for Musgraves and a first-round pick. What do you think about that? I’ll take my answer off the air.”
Never let it be said that the National Baseball Hall of Fame can’t throw us a curveball now and then. On Monday, the institution announced the eight-man slate for the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee ballot, and while it contained some of the expected names — including those of 2022 BBWAA ballot “graduates” Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Curt Schilling, whose candidacies now enter a new phase — it also omitted some and retreaded a few candidacies that have never gained much traction. This ballot has something to frustrate everyone.
I’ll get to the omissions below. The full ballot includes the aforementioned trio, whose 10-year tenures on the writers’ ballot ended in January, with all three falling short of the 75% needed for election, as well as two other candidates making their first Era Committee ballot appearances: Fred McGriff and Rafael Palmeiro. The other three candidates, Albert Belle, Don Mattingly, and Dale Murphy, have all previously appeared on multiple Era Committee ballots.
The Contemporary Baseball Era Committee is one of three created by the Hall in its latest reconfiguration of the process for considering players whose eligibility on the BBWAA ballot has lapsed, as well as managers, executives, and umpires. The changes were announced in April, replacing a system of four Era Committees (Early Baseball, Golden Days, Modern Baseball, and Today’s Game) that voted on a staggered basis within a 10-year cycle. The new system — the fifth different one put in place of the old Veterans Committee since 2001 — divides candidates into just two timeframes: those who made their greatest impact on the game before 1980 (Classic Baseball Era), including Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues Black players, and those who made their greatest impact from 1980 to the present day (Contemporary Baseball Era). While the Classic Baseball Era ballot can include non-players, those from the Contemporary Era will be considered on a separate ballot.
As if consolidating the pools of candidates didn’t already make it harder for a given individual to land on a ballot, the size of the ballot itself has shrunk from 10 candidates to eight, and the number of whom each of the 16 voters can choose has been reduced from four to three. It all feels like a heavy-handed reaction to the voting from last December, when two candidates from the Early Baseball period (Bud Fowler and Buck O’Neil) and four from the Golden Days period (Gil Hodges, Jim Kaat, Minnie Miñoso, and Tony Oliva) were elected.
The Contemporary Baseball Players ballot will be voted upon at the Winter Meetings in San Diego on Sunday, December 4, and anyone elected will be inducted in Cooperstown on Sunday, July 23, 2023. Next December, the Contemporary Baseball ballot for managers, umpires, and executives will be considered, and in December 2024, candidates for the Classic Baseball ballot will get their turn, with the cycle continuing on a triennial basis — that is, if the Hall doesn’t decide to change things up yet again. Read the rest of this entry »
Beau Brieske had a promising rookie season with the Detroit Tigers, and he beat the odds in doing so. The 24-year-old right-hander lasted until the 27th round of the 2019 draft, where he was selected 802nd overall out of Division II Colorado State University-Pueblo. He entered pro ball on the heels of a junior season in which he logged a 5.42 ERA.
Brieske has improved exponentially since that time, and pitching analytics is one of the reasons why. Armed with a better understanding of how his stuff plays (and he’s added to his arsenal, too), he made his big league debut in April, then went on to throw 81.2 innings before a forearm strain ended his season in mid-July. Brieske finished with a 4.19 ERA and a 4.97 FIP over 15 starts.
Brieske, who relies more on pitch-ability than on raw stuff, discussed his repertoire and approach shortly before going on the shelf with the injury.
———
David Laurila: What do you know about pitching now that you didn’t when you signed your first professional contract? I’m guessing that might require a long answer.
Beau Brieske: “For sure. I have a lot better understanding of myself as a pitcher than I did at that time. With all the analytics… I mean, I had no idea what any of those were when I was coming out of college. I didn’t really even know about spin rate, let alone all the other in-depth analytics that people use. Now I know a lot more about where my stuff plays.
“I also have a better understanding of sequencing certain pitches to get guys off-balance. I’m using effective velocity with my fastball, going in to low and away, then back in, maybe followed by a changeup low and away. Another big thing is learning where I can throw certain pitches to get a take, where certain pitches are better if I need a weak ground ball, and what to throw when I’m trying to get a punch-out.
“All of that stuff is continuing to grow for me, the learning about myself and my arsenal, and I’m trying to improve on a day-to-day basis. That’s whether it’s strictly internal feel, the eye test, or using analytics to, I guess you could say, ‘hit certain points’ where I can build my best arsenal. So yes, probably a long-winded answer. There has been a lot.” Read the rest of this entry »
