The Best of FanGraphs: August 31-September 4, 2015

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, orange for TechGraphs and blue for Community Research.

MONDAY
On the Nature of Writing and Fandom, by Dave Cameron
Commenter Woody summed this post up best. And then Dave just left us for the week! The nerve of that guy, making us feel things and then leaving.

Jake Arrieta Gets His Celebration, by Jeff Sullivan
And then he celebrated those good times in his pajamas, because Joe Maddon is just a wild and crazy guy.

Do Pitchers Get a Boost From Angel Stadium’s Rockpile?, by Gerald Schifman
Pitchers are said to get an edge from the Rockpile, but quantifying that effect isn’t exactly easy. Gerald has a fascinating breakdown here.

TUESDAY
Madison Bumgarner Is Back to October Bumgarner, by Owen Watson
Much like Octoberfest beer, Bumgarner was ready more than a month early. Except unlike drinking an Octoberfest beer in August, it’s not stupid and ridiculous to want to watch Bumgarner at his best in August. Or September. Or any other month, for that matter.

All Questions Answered: September 1, 2015, by David Wiers
David gave to you his entire Tuesday afternoon and evening to answer all of your most specific fantasy baseball questions (he even answered a couple on Wednesday).

Should One Strike Make This Much Difference?, by Neil Weinberg
It probably shouldn’t, but it does. Great work here by Neil.

A Call for Reason Regarding Mobile Notifications, by David G. Temple
David G. at the pulpit. Preach!

WEDNESDAY
Three At-Bats with Brandon Moss, by Eno Sarris
Behold, He-Moss, he hath returned!

Battery Allowed Baserunning (BAB): What It Is and Why You Need It, by since05
Toward the bottom of this insightful post, you’ll see yet more evidence for why the Rockies relieved Wilin Rosario of his catching duties this season.

THURSDAY
Elvis Andrus Steals Home, Padres’ Souls, by Matthew Kory
Hopefully the Padres get their souls back soon.

Innings Limit Updates – Danger Zone & Already Over, by Paul Sporer
Paul went above and beyond looking for guys who might need to get shut down this month. Make sure you check this list out, and his sister list about guys who are not in danger.

FRIDAY
Likely Scenarios for Current Front-Office Vacancies, by Kiley McDaniel
Kiley is pretty good at this sort of thing.

On Ruben Tejada and the Nature of Inside-the-Park Homers, by Craig Edwards
An excellent breakdown not just of inside-the-parkers in general, but also of a particular outstanding effort by one player on this homer.

Quick Looks: Anderson and Jungmann, by Jeff Zimmerman
Jeff dusted off his “Quick Looks” series for a look at two mid-twenties right-handers in their efforts against the Pirates.

Why is Run Scoring Depressed in September, and What Just Happened in August?, by Jon Roegele
Offense was up, is what happened, even with a bigger strike zone and a lower pitch height for pitches. Wait, what?