The Best of FanGraphs: August 29-September 2, 2016

by
September 3, 2016

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
New Interactive Splits Tool!, by Sean Dolinar
This new tool represents a great deal of work from Sean, and as we move forward, should only become more integrated on the site. We hope it comes in handy.

Brian Dozier’s Incredible Turnaround, by Scott Strandberg
Scott details the changes made that have led to the change in fortune for Minnesota’s second baseman.

Gary Sanchez Homers His Way Into History, by Mike Podhorzer
If you didn’t know, you don’t have to ask anybody, because Mike broke it down here.

TUESDAY
Chalk Up Another Brewers Buy-Low Success, by Jeff Sullivan
“I want you to be as aware of Hernan Perez as I have become.” Mission accomplished, Jeff.

Pinder & Triggs – Deep A.L. West-Only Leagues, by Rylan Edwards
Finding good starting pitching at this time of year can seem like an exercise in desperation, but Rylan offers two potential solutions here.

You Aren't a FanGraphs Member
It looks like you aren't yet a FanGraphs Member (or aren't logged in). We aren't mad, just disappointed.
We get it. You want to read this article. But before we let you get back to it, we'd like to point out a few of the good reasons why you should become a Member.
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We hope you'll consider a Membership today, for yourself or as a gift! And we realize this has been an awfully long sales pitch, so we've also removed all the other ads in this article. We didn't want to overdo it.

The Relative Importance of Velocity, by Kevin Dorosh, Julia Prusaczyk and Sara Stokesbury
Three students from Tufts put together a rigorous study to determine what the most important attribute of each pitch type is. The results may not be what they had hoped, but their process will serve them well in future studies.

WEDNESDAY
How Good Is Shohei Otani?, by Dave Cameron/NEIFO.co
Hopefully we get to watch him play stateside next season.

THURSDAY
Scouting and Reflecting on Yoan Moncada, by Eric Longenhagen
The Red Sox now stand at the precipice of having an incredibly talented position-player core in the majors together for a good chunk of time.

The Comps for Tim Tebow Aren’t Encouraging, by Chris Mitchell
Tim Tebow might never become a major league player, but here Chris takes a realistic look at who he might compare to if he does.

They Don’t Make Many Like Rougned Odor, by Jeff Sullivan
Most people will sell out for something. As Jeff explains, Rougned Odor sells out for fastballs.

Carlos Rodon Has Taken a Step Forward, by August Fagerstrom
Carlos Rodon is doing everything he can to make sure he ends up not as a “post-hype sleeper” but as a player that can be dominant who you get excited about watching.

Arizona Fall League Roster Highlights, by Eric Longenhagen
The AFL is like Christmas come early for prospect hounds, particularly Arizona-based prospect hounds like Eric. On Thursday, he got to unwrap his presents, such as they are.

FRIDAY
How Managers Were Fooled by the Home-Run Spike, by Neil Weinberg
Exhaustive pitch count research lies within.

The Go-Go Brewers Are Stealing Bases Like It’s 1987, by Ryan Pollock
Our newest writer, Ryan Pollock, digs deep on stolen base attempt rates. While you’re at it, go back and read Ryan’s first post from last week. Welcome, Ryan!

Ken Giles is Back to His Dominant Self, by Matt Wojciak
Matt details some major adjustments that Ken Giles made to get back in the saddle.





 

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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