With the playoff pictures in both leagues nearly settled with a month left to play, big matchups between the best teams lose a little meaning without the high stakes of a close pennant race hanging in the balance. Still, there are a few competitive divisions, and the Wild Card race in both leagues should be exciting down to the end of the season.

A reminder for how these rankings are calculated: first, we take the three most important components of a team — their offense (wRC+), and their starting rotation and bullpen (a 50/50 blend of FIP- and RA9-, weighted by IP share) — and combine them to create an overall team quality metric. New for this year, I’ve opted to include defense as a component, though it’s weighted less heavily than offense and pitching. Some element of team defense is captured by RA9-, but now that FanGraphs has Statcast’s OAA/RAA available on our leaderboards, I’ve chosen to include that as the defensive component for each team. I also add in a factor for “luck,” adjusting a team’s win percentage based on expected win-loss record. The result is a power ranking, which is then presented in tiers below.

Despite nine wins over their last 13 games, the Dodgers have slowed down just a touch, though they’re still on pace for 113 wins this year, or a .698 winning percentage. History awaits if they can crest the .700 mark: Only the 1998 Yankees and 2001 Mariners have finished a full 162-game season with a winning percentage that high or better. After wrapping up their series with the Marlins on Monday, they have a tough stretch of games ahead of them: three in New York against the Mets and then six games against the Padres split up by a three-game set against the Giants. If they can get through this part of their schedule at their current pace, they’ll have a good shot of becoming the third team ever to finish with 114 wins or more.

Even though they just dropped two of three to the Orioles over the weekend, the Astros have elevated themselves over all the other teams in the American League. Houston has played extremely well all season long and has a soft schedule on the docket, with six straight series against teams with records below .500. Of some concern: the Astros scored just four runs total against Baltimore. Justin Verlander, the favorite to win the AL Cy Young award, was also forced to exit his start on Sunday with a calf injury. The offensive woes should sort themselves out, but losing Verlander for an extended period of time would be a serious blow. Read the rest of this entry »

In the top of the fourth inning of Saturday’s Braves-Cardinals tilt, Atlanta struck for four runs, breaking a scoreless tie and setting the team up in an enviable position. Leading off the bottom of the inning, St. Louis’ Tyler O’Neill walked on four straight pitches against Charlie Morton. That walk cost the Braves; two batters later, Andrew Knizner popped a two-run homer that brought the Cardinals within two runs.

On the broadcast, John Smoltz was livid even before the home run. “The last thing you want to do is walk the leadoff hitter after the team gave you four runs…. You don’t care if he hits a 3–1 pitch for a homer. Just don’t walk him.” He said that even before O’Neill walked, and emphasized the point throughout the inning.

Aaron Goldsmith, handling play-by-play, asked Smoltz to elaborate. “You’re not being facetious, you actually mean that? You’d rather have a run on the board than a runner at first base?” Smoltz stuck to his guns, said he preferred the homer to the walk, and that was that.

Here’s a bit of an upset: I understood what Smoltz was talking about. In fact, I think that if you give him a little leeway, he might have a point. Sure, it’s fun to point at a statement like that and laugh. It’s absurd on its face. The worst-case outcome of a walk is a run scoring. The only outcome of a solo home run is a run scoring. There’s just no way a rational observer could come to any other conclusion.

That said: I don’t think that’s what Smoltz meant. Consider this: no major league pitcher has ever thrown a pitch that they knew with certainty would turn into a home run when it left their hand. That’s just not how baseball works. Position players lob plenty of objectively terrible pitchers that don’t leave the yard every time they handle mop-up duty. The meatiest meatball Morton could throw is far from a certain home run. If we think a little more about process, and a little less about outcomes, this silly debate takes on new light. Read the rest of this entry »

Friday’s interview with Michael Harris II focused on his career path, the 21-year-old Atlanta Braves rookie having excelled as a multiple-sport athlete while growing up in Stockbridge, Georgia. Moreover, he’d been a two-way player whom many scouts preferred as a pitcher. While baseball and outfielder-only are proving to be prudent choices, he had options along the way.

Jordan Romano’s path shares some similarities with Harris’s. Not only was the Toronto Blue Jays closer a multi-sport athlete in his formative years, he originally excelled as a position player. That he became a pitcher was circumstantial. Choosing baseball was a matter of passion.

“Being Canadian, I played a lot of hockey in high school,”said Romano, who grew up a Toronto Maple Leafs fan in Markham, Ontario. “I also played a little basketball and was pretty decent at volleyball. But with baseball, you kind of had to drag me off the field, even in practice. My parents wanted me to play a bunch of different sports, and while I really enjoyed hockey — I still do — I didn’t have the passion for it that I did for baseball.”

Romano never considered himself NHL material, but he does feel he had the potential to play collegiately, or in juniors, had he stuck with it. The decision to forgo that possibility came at age 17, and while it shaped his future, it didn’t end his time on the ice. Romano kept lacing up the skates for another year. Read the rest of this entry »

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about Julio Rodríguez‘s complex, long-term extension with the Mariners, which wild card contenders Meg is most worried about as a Mariners fan, George Kirby’s game-starting strike streak and the nature of a strike, the new CBA’s impact on midseason callups, and Bryce Harper’s return, follow up on MLB players playing KBO players, “defended” vs. “defensed,” Munetaka Murakami’s homers, and Yankee Stadium’s design, share a Past Blast (43:17) from 1895, and reflect on the 20th anniversary of the first MLB game stream. Then (54:40) they talk to listener and broadcast designer/director Chris Hanel about his research into the pitch-speed flames and score bugs on baseball broadcasts, the biggest score bug mistakes and disputes, how score bugs have evolved, the best and worst score bugs, the future of score bugs, and more.

Audio intro: The Apples in Stereo, “Stream Running Over”
Audio interstitial: Bobbie Gentry, “Bugs”
Audio outro: Popsicle, “Join My Stream”

Link to Passan’s extension article
Link to Passan’s Twitter thread
Link to MLBTR on the extension
Link to Dan S. on the extension
Link to Stathead on 20/20 players
Link to Kirby strike-record data
Link to Stowers walk-off video
Link to Elias fact tweet
Link to CBA incentive details
Link to BP on the Cavalli callup
Link to tweet about Henderson
Link to info on the “Korea Series”
Link to Mark Simon on Walker
Link to Zach Buchanan on Walker
Link to Murakami tweet
Link to defended/defensed discussion
Link to story about streaming anniversary
Link to 2002 streaming screenshot
Link to Richard Hershberger’s Strike Four
Link to 1895 story source
Link to Sam on the flames
Link to Chris’s flames grid
Link to Chris’s graphics sheet
Link to NPB graphics screenshot
Link to NPB graphics screenshot 2
Link to story on ESPN NFL graphics change
Link to MLB survey screenshot thread
Link to Chris’s score bug account
Link to Chris’s thread with more info
Link to Chris’s baseball account
Link to Chris’s company

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It’ll still be a few months before we see whether Julio Rodríguez wins the American League Rookie of the Year award, but today we got a glimpse of baseball 15 years into the future. As reported by MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez and ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Seattle Mariners and Rodríguez have come to terms on a huge long-term contract extension, one that would run to the late 2030s.

Passan ran down the details of the deal, and it’s a complicated one.

THREAD: There’s a lot to digest on Julio Rodríguez’s extension with Seattle, per ESPN sources. The deal could be for 8, 13, 16 or 18 years. It guarantees Rodriguez $210 million. If it maxes out, it will be the largest ever: $470 million. The details are important. Here they are.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 26, 2022

Read the rest of this entry »

To these eyes and those of others, the novelty of position players pitching in blowouts has worn off, but even so, the phenomenon has taken on a new twist. Whereas it has become almost routine for a team that’s getting pasted to call upon a reserve position player to close things out rather than waste a real pitcher, this season we’ve seen an unprecedented number of position players finishing games for the teams that are doing the pasting. In fact, earlier this week we saw a team do so on back-to-back nights, when Dodgers infielder Hanser Alberto nailed down 10-1 and 12-6 victories over the Brewers on Tuesday and Wednesday. Talk about adding insult to injury.

The 29-year-old Alberto is a light-hitting utilityman who during a seven-year career with four teams has played every position but catcher and center field. This year, he’s hitting .246/.258/.373 with two homers in 128 PA for the majors’ most dominant team, becoming something of a fan favorite for his role in keeping the Dodgers loose with his dugout dancing, towel-waving, and general good vibes-spreading.

Hanser Alberto might be my new favorite player??? pic.twitter.com/3Aa3kXkZzb

— Blake Harris (@BlakeHHarris) April 20, 2022

This is hilarious pic.twitter.com/R9STiFWCOv

— kimberly ? (@kimballzzzzz) August 24, 2022

Alberto came to the Dodgers with a smidgen of mound work on his resumé. He made his first pitching appearance with the Orioles on April 7, 2019, allowing two runs in the ninth inning of a game they lost to the Yankees 15-3; Austin Romine took him deep. He pitched again on April 20 of last year with the Royals; with the Rays ahead 14-7, he relieved a struggling Greg Holland and got the final out. Read the rest of this entry »

2:03

Jay Jaffe: Good afternoon, folks! Welcome to the first New York edition of my chat in quite some time. I’m back from my two weeks in San Diego and I had my mind on the local ballclubs here — i didn’t get to see much of them from the West Coast due to the timing of games. I covered Tuesday’s game and Frankie Montas’ rebound (https://blogs.fangraphs.com/frankie-montas-and-the-yankees-get-back-on…), wrote about Francisco Lindor’s MVP-caliber season (some folks need to look up the meaning of caliber https://blogs.fangraphs.com/francisco-lindor-is-having-an-mvp-caliber-…), while also covering the Albert Pujols renaissance (https://blogs.fangraphs.com/albert-pujols-is-enjoying-a-renaissance/) and the latest turn in position players pitching (https://blogs.fangraphs.com/suddenly-position-players-are-sealing-more…)

2:05	Jay Jaffe: But wait, there’s more! I discussed the Yankees (and to a lesser extent the Cardinals and Jordan Montgomery) with Ben Clemens on the FanGraphs Audio podcast (https://t.co/XJLD76El9I), which also features David Laurila speaking to El Paso Chihuahuas broadcaster-turned-author Tim Hagerty

2:05	Jay Jaffe: Anyway, it’s a short chat today because I’ve got to do some dinner shopping in honor of my daughter’s sixth birthday

2:06	Jay Jaffe: so let’s get to it!

2:07

Jay Jaffe: Jeff Passan @JeffPassan The structure of Julio Rodriguez’s massive extension is very complicated, but the topline details, sources tell ESPN: $210 million guaranteed over 14 years with the ability to grow to well over $400M. Includes player and team options. The great @JesseSanchezMLB was on the deal. 26 Aug 2022

Read the rest of this entry »

On Thursday, MLB announced the 2023 schedule, implementing the alterations originally announced when the current collective bargaining agreement was signed back in March. The existing format, under which the 2022 season is being played, has been largely stable since 2013, the season the Houston Astros moved to the American League. That change evened out all six divisions to five teams each, making for a tidy format in which every team played their divisional opponents 19 times and the rest of the teams in their league six or seven times, with 20 interleague games against a rotating division and officially designated MLB rivals.

Before 2001, MLB’s schedule tended to be a good deal more balanced. During the divisional era before interleague play, six-team divisions typically played 18 games against their divisional opponents and 12 against non-divisional opponents; seven-team divisions had a nearly even 13/12 split (the American League did 15 vs. 10 or 11 for a couple years after the 1977 expansion). In 2001, MLB went all-in on an unbalanced schedule, with the idea being that by having teams play their divisional rivals more often, you’d create greater tension in the divisional races and more intense regional rivalries. Whether this approach actually accomplished its goals is difficult to tell. I can’t think of any new rivalries that were created simply by playing more games and tend to believe that rivalries are born from teams playing more meaningful games against each other, not simply from seeing each other more often. Red Sox and Yankees fans don’t appear to have hated each other any more in 2010 than they did in 2000, and the endless Orioles-Rays series in the days before Tampa Bay was competitive made this O’s fan click over to other games, not foster a hatred for the Rays.

Be that as it may, from a philosophical standpoint, heavily unbalanced schedules make the most sense when winning divisional races is the sole or at least primary way of making the playoffs and much less so when more Wild Card spots exist. When you have a lot of Wild Card spots, you create a fundamental bit of unfairness when the divisions are of meaningfully differing strengths; teams in weak divisions are competing directly against teams in stronger divisions for those Wild Card spots, with the former generally having easier schedules. Read the rest of this entry »

Allow me to present a play in two acts:

Act 1:

Justin Steele is 21 four-seamers away from history*.

Most four-seamers thrown w/out giving up a HR in the pitch tracking era:

Heath Bell: 807 in 2010
Justin Steele: 786 in 2022.

— Alex Fast (@AlexFast8) July 22, 2022

Act 2:

Kyle Schwarber – Philadelphia Phillies (30) https://t.co/IHKy2c0spm

— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) July 22, 2022

On the very first pitch of his start against the Phillies on July 22, Justin Steele threw a four-seam fastball. Kyle Schwarber promptly launched the pitch into the right field stands. It was the first home run Steele had allowed off the pitch this year, preventing him from getting any closer to the historic mark Alex Fast had tweeted about just hours earlier. Schwarber aside, the fact that Steele had made it through 17 starts without allowing a home run off his four-seamer was an impressive feat, and it’s a big reason he’s been one of the Cubs’ best starters this year. Read the rest of this entry »

When the Mets signed Adam Ottavino to a one-year, $4 million deal this past offseason, you could imagine how the move might work out for them – or not. To an optimist, Ottavino seemed like a low-risk gamble with prominent upside. To a pessimist, he seemed more like an aging pitcher in decline, especially after a mediocre stint in Boston. But you’d be lying if you said you predicted Ottavino would put up the second-lowest ERA (2.13) and FIP (3.07) of his career at age 36. You could describe the Mets as having caught lightning in a bottle, but that would be an affront to the effort Ottavino has put into sharpening his game, a feat not many players his age manage.

Let’s start with what hasn’t changed. Ottavino’s signature pitch, a flying saucer of a slider that abducts the souls of hitters, is still moving like it used to. There haven’t been any improvements made to it, because stuff-wise, it’s a near-perfect pitch, with Ottavino having pushed the envelope years ago. His two fastballs – a four-seamer and sinker – also haven’t regressed in terms of movement, and though the velocities on both are down, Ottavino’s success has never really been tied with how hard he throws. What matters is that he’s maintained enough velocity: At 94.9 mph, Ottavino’s four-seam fastball is a smidge above league average. In sum, his late-career turnaround hasn’t been because of an uptick in raw stuff. The major ingredients for an outstanding Ottavino outing remain the same.

How about pitch mix? I’m afraid you won’t find a satisfying answer here, either. Compared to last season, Ottavino is throwing his sinker more, and his slider and four-seamer less, but none of those alterations have been dramatic. They certainly could be contributing to Ottavino’s resurgence, but they don’t seem like the sole reason. This season, Ottavino has reintroduced his changeup, presumably to give him a backup plan against left-handed hitters. But given a usage rate of 7%, it’s not as if he’s been relying on the slow ball. And regardless, lefties are faring well against Ottavino, just like they always have. It would make for an appealing narrative, but in truth, the changeup hasn’t been much of a difference-maker. Read the rest of this entry »