The Best of FanGraphs: January 29-February 2, 2018

Each week, we publish in the neighborhood of 75 articles across 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, 1/29
From Cupping to Cold Water: A Review of Baseball’s Pseudoscience, by Stephanie Springer
A pursuit of improvement sometimes drives even baseball players to rely on fringe methods that may or may not stand up to scientific scrutiny. There is a little bit of Tom Brady in us all.

Let’s Endure Four-and-a-Half Minutes of Mound Visits Together, by Meg Rowley
Read this and you can give yourself the equivalent of, like, 12 papercuts with Meg. This is fun. Trust me.

Projecting the Hall of Fame Ballot Through 2023, by Craig Edwards
Craig did some Hall of Fame ballot projections through the Jordan year of the 2000s, noting the no-doubters to the last-chances of each year.

TUESDAY, 1/30
What Could Brandon Nimmo Become?, by Eno Sarris
In Eno’s last article before his “Thanks for Reading” post, he told us a bit about where we might find Nimmo should he be able to make a few improvements.

Rolen into the Hall, by Jason Linden
For those who have room in their heart for another Hall of Fame campaign candidate, may Jason present Scott Rolen and his 10.2% share of votes.

Ballpark Playing Surfaces Are Shrinking in a Surprising Way, by Travis Sawchik
5,500 square feet on average. How do you measure, measure the distance that foul territory has diminished in a new generation of ballparks?

WEDNESDAY, 1/31
Matching Jackie, by Shane Tourtellotte
Jackie Robinson the civil rights icon often outshines Jackie Robinson the baseball player. But putting on glasses to take a look at just how good Robinson was on the field yields some wild revelations.

Vladimir Guerrero Was Obviously One of a Kind, by Jeff Sullivan
Vlad fell short of the typical WAR accrual of his soon-to-be-fellow Hall of Famers.  Instead, he carved out his own value that can be seen with the help of some other tools.

THURSDAY, 2/1
Not All Whiffs are Created Equal, by Alex Chamberlain
We hold these truths to be self-evident…

Curveballing with Cleveland, by Henry Still
There is something in the water in Cleveland, and the only prescription was more curveballs.

Larry Walker’s Credentials Bear Repeating, by Craig Edwards
The former Rockie has quite a margin to overcome in order to be enshrined in Cooperstown, but he deserves to make the jump. His Hall of Fame case doesn’t have to die at the hands of Coors Field.

Christian Yelich’s Arrow Is Pointing Up, by Travis Sawchik
After being plucked from Marlins Park and placed into Miller Park, things are looking up for the Brewers newest addition.

The Market Is Ripe for Someone to Buy a Prospect, by Jeff Sullivan
If the market can’t entice teams to sign perfectly good free agents, maybe it can persuade them to peruse the prospect tree.

FRIDAY, 2/2
MLB Payroll Might Decrease for First Time in Long Time, by Craig Edwards
Every time a baseball writer typed the words “slow offseason” in the last three months, a fairy lost their wings. Now there is a whole heck of a lot of fairies probably hopping around and a whole heck of a lot of implications for Major League Baseball.

The Most Obvious Closer Sleepers, by Brad Johnson
If you for some reason didn’t mind missing all the information on closers, this article could best be summed up in Brad’s words: “Ha ha ha. Fools.”