The Best of FanGraphs: February 6-10, 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
The Pirates’ Outfield Shuffle, by Travis Sawchick
Not quite as entertaining as the Ickey Shuffle, but then, what is, when you think about it?
Gettin’ Shifty With It — Introducing the New xBABIP, by Mike Podhorzer
Mike has updated his formula. Click through to see his changes.
California (Republic) Dreaming, by Frank Jackson
Frank presents a thought-provoking hypothetical.
Exploring Relief Pitcher Usage Via the Inning-Score Matrix by Matt Malkus
Delving in deep on how usage can affect bullpen structure. Great stuff.
TUESDAY
The Devaluation of New Ideas, by Dave Cameron
Good piece from Dave, but my favorite part of it is the comment from “Westside Guy.”
WEDNESDAY
Major League Baseball and Workers’ Comp, by Nathaniel Grow
This new Illinois law — if passed — may be much ado about nothing, but Nathaniel’s analysis of it is invaluable.
Bullpen Report: February 8, 2017, by Al Melchior
The Bullpen Report is back, baby! And so is Al. Two pieces of good news at once. That’s a beautiful thing.
High Fives from the President, by Shakeia Taylor
In this detailed piece, we learn some of the history behind presidential visits by championship teams.
Basic Machine Learning With R (Part 1) by The Kuzdu Kid
This promises to be an interesting and valuable series.
THURSDAY
It’s No Great Mystery Why Matt Wieters Is Available, by Jeff Sullivan
Still a great mystery — the Mary Celeste.
dSCORE: Pitcher Evaluation by Stuff by Snerd
An interesting study by someone just trying to win a fantasy league.
FRIDAY
The Disconnect Between Franchise Values and Player Salaries, by Dave Cameron
Dave has made this point before, and he will likely need to continue to make it in the future to provide context for fans and players who flip out when they see “$1.6 billion.”
Four Perspectives: How Do MLB and MiLB Balls Differ?, by David Laurila
I had never realized that the balls were different, or perhaps this is something I learned long ago and forgot about. Either way, David provides good perspective here, as he so often does.
Justin Upton and Bad Luck on… Infield Hits?, by Alex Chamberlain
Alex was curious about something in Justin Upton’s stat line, and it turned into an interesting post. I love it when that happens.
A Symphony of Pitches in Four Movements, by Matthew Mata
This piece is long, but it is brimming with delicious nerdery that is worth your time.
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.
Thanks!