The Best of FanGraphs: April 28-May 2, 2014

If you missed the inaugural post of The Best Of FanGraphs, you can do so here. In case you don’t feel like clicking through though, here is how this post is structured:

We’ll pull from the whole FanGraphs family, picking 10-15 stories that we feel you really should read before the week draws to a close. The links are color coded — green for FanGraphs, burnt sienna for RotoGraphs, purple for NotGraphs, dark red for The Hardball Times and blue for Community. They are listed in this order as well in each day, just for the sake of consistency.

All Week

This week was “10 Lessons Week” at The Hardball Times, and everyone on the docket knocked their article out of the virtual park. The lineup was as follows:

• Monday: Matt Hunter on baseball simulators
• Tuesday: Dave Studeman on Win Probability Added
• Wednesday: Dan Szymborski on projection systems
• Thursday: Mitchel Lichtman on defensive statistics
• Friday: Dave Cameron on baseball’s economy

Monday

NERD Scores Return with Something Not Unlike a Vengeance, by Carson Cistulli
The purveyor of piping hot internet content serves us up another year of the NERD scores we so desperately crave. And he serves them up hot.

Why Challenge The Royals, When They’ll Just Help You Out?, by Mike Petriello
Offensively speaking, the Royals have been quite offensive both this year and for some time.

Brandon Phillips & Running Away, by J.P. Breen
Lamentably, this article doesn’t link to the classic The Pharcyde song “Runnin’,” but in it J.P. does explain how those who doubted Brandon Phillips heading into the season were justified in their beliefs.

It’s Time to Lower the Mound…Again, by baseballstooge
Here, the author presents a thought-provoking suggestion on how to reduce the number of injuries in pitchers that need to be fixed with Tommy John surgery.

Tuesday

Strikeouts, Stabilization and Surprising Swings, by Eno Sarris
With each season comes a reminder about stabilization, but Eno goes beyond that here with a bevy of helpful hints.

A Short Play Involving Two Robots, by David G. Temple
The game and the thing they use to play the game are called the same thing?

Wednesday

A Flat Aging Curve: How Injury Affects Age, by Jeff Zimmerman
Jeff breaks down how injured players age versus healthy players.

Thursday

The MLB Commissioner’s Power To Discipline A Donald-Sterling Like Owner, by Wendy Thurm
Wendy has a succinct breakdown of both the Donald Sterling situation and how it can be applied to Major League Baseball.

It Might Be Time to Adjust to Anthony Rendon, by Jeff Sullivan
Pitchers have pitched Anthony Rendon the same way they did in 2013, and Rendon has made them pay.

Friday

Minimalist Short Fiction Starring Adrian Beltre, by Dayn Perry
A rare and delightful treat from Dayn, and it is automatically included here even though he technically published it today. Because sometimes the leaves rustle themselves.