The Best of FanGraphs: April 24-28, 2017

by
April 29, 2017

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.

MONDAY
A First-Hand Look at MLB’s Trailblazer Series, by Jen Mac Ramos
Jen went to the new girls’ baseball tournament in Compton, and came away encouraged. Great stuff from Jen.

The New Generation of Ballparks Is Pushing Us Away, by Travis Sawchick
“MLB commissioner Rob Manfred dubbed the SunTrust Park and the complex surrounding it as ‘the new model for how new ballparks will be built.’ I sure hope not.” Amen. This is must-read stuff from Travis.

The 33rd Eugenio: A Suarez Story, by Scott Strandberg
This is an A+ headline and I’m incredulous that this story doesn’t have more comments about what a great headline it is.

TUESDAY
Why We Still Don’t Have a Great Command Metric, by Eno Sarris
Command is easy to define but hard to quantify.

Robbie Grossman Figured Out Lefties, Is Relevant, by Ben Kaspick
Ben goes in-depth, using visual and statistical evidence, to point out how Grossman has changed.

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Andrew Benintendi and the Lefty Strike by Nick Rabasco
The young outfielder has been beset by bad calls on the outside of the zone more than any other left-handed batter in the early going.

WEDNESDAY
Chris Coghlan Takes Flight, by Nicolas Stellini
Few things can top Dexter Fowler hurdling Chase Utley, but this one, if not tops it, is certainly in the conversation. In case you don’t remember Fowler v. Utley:

Fowler’s may not seem as cool to you, but remember, he did it in the eighth inning of a playoff game. That counts for something in my book.

Projecting Cody Bellinger, by Chris Mitchell
I excite!

THURSDAY
Kris Bryant: The Earliest Adopter, by Travis Sawchick
Travis is good at writing and reporting.

Thomas Pannone: An Indians Prospect Puts Up Zeroes, by David Laurila
The 41 percent strikeout rate is pretty cool, too.

What I Would Pay Eric Thames, by Dave Cameron
Dave would pay him much more than he got, but just how much more?

FRIDAY
The Fringe Five: Baseball’s Most Compelling Fringe Prospects, by Carson Cistulli
The Fringe Five actually returned for the 2017 season last week, but Carson helmed the Best Of post last week, and was too modest to include his own work. So I’m including this week’s as a result. Welcome back, Fringe Five!

Research Notebook: New Format for Statcast Data Export at Baseball Savant, by Bill Petti
There have been a number of changes this season, and Bill expertly walks you through all of them.





 

Paul Swydan used to be the managing editor of The Hardball Times, a writer and editor for FanGraphs and a writer for Boston.com and The Boston Globe. Now, he owns The Silver Unicorn Bookstore, an independent bookstore in Acton, Mass. Follow him on Twitter @Swydan. Follow the store @SilUnicornActon.

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