The Best of FanGraphs: June 26-30, 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 Dodgers Are the New Cubs, by Dave Cameron
The Cubs are no longer the Cubs — at least for the time being — but the National League still has a fearsome juggernaut.
Domingo Santana and the Juggernaut Lurking Within, by Alex Chamberlain
Also on Monday, I wrote that I have become a big Domingo Santana fan. Alex is similarly enthused.
TUESDAY
Aaron Judge or Cody Bellinger?, by Eno Sarris
Why must I choose?
Players’ View: Are Mound Visits Really an Issue?, by David Laurila
I know he’s not usually too popular in sabermetric circles, but Jack Morris really has the best comments here.
What’s Up With Manny Machado?, by Tony Blengino
Tony shows why he believes the Orioles’ third baseman needs to change his approach.
One Night OUT, by Mina Dunn
In her THT debut, Mina opens up about attending the Washington Nationals’ 13th “Night OUT.”
WEDNESDAY
What Can Speed Do?, by Craig Edwards
The Statcast crew unveiled a new stat, and Craig was eager to dig in on it. This is also very exciting news!
Let’s Do the Math on Miguel Montero and Jake Arrieta, by Travis Sawchick
To quote Dave from his Wednesday chat, “this is a great example of being right about the facts but wrong about the wisdom of speaking them.”
Is It Time To Trust Travis Shaw?, by Randy Holt
Last season, Travis Shaw got hit pretty hard by the regression stick around this time. Randy offers some reasons as to why the third baseman is in a better position to avoid that this season.
THURSDAY
Picking the 2017 National League All-Stars, by Dave Cameron
Dave also picked his American League All-Stars on Friday.
Underthrown Pitches And The Pitchers Who Underthrow Them: Putting It All Together, by Rylan Edwards
In this, the box-set edition of Rylan’s four-part series, we learn that Corey Kluber’s pitches are all so good that we’ll always want him to throw more of whatever pitch he’s not currently throwing a lot of. That’s pretty impressive.
The Cardinals Might Have Lost Three Wins on the Bases by cgarner29
Perhaps an exaggeration, but the Cardinals certainly haven’t excelled on the bases, and this article makes some good points.
FRIDAY
Technically, Baseball Really Is More Boring, by Jeff Sullivan
Jeff leveraged leverage into a very interesting piece.
Tampa Bay’s Second-Half Attendance, by Michael Lortz
It was a pleasure seeing Michael’s work on Tampa’s attendance this month. Please do read his final piece of his Residency.
July 2 Sortable Board and Rules Primer, by Eric Longenhagen
To close out the week, Eric got you prepped for this year’s international signing period.
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.