The Best of FanGraphs: June 27-July 1, 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
This Year, the Elephant Remembered to Practice, by Nathaniel Rakich
Nathaniel, as he does every year, breaks down the Congressional Baseball Game.
TUESDAY
Matt Carpenter and the Greatest Leadoff Seasons of All Time, by Craig Edwards
The 13th round pick has put himself in some terrific company.
The Francisco Lindor Effect Is Ridiculous, by Jeff Sullivan
I’m not sure if you know, but defense is important.
The Change: What’s Going On With Aaron Nola?, by Eno Sarris
Not much, Eno Sarris reveals.
WEDNESDAY
The 2016 July 2 Sortable Board, by Eric Longenhagen
Eric turns out with his first July 2 Sortable Board, as well as several other related pieces — including scouting reports on the top 10 prospects, as well as 11-25.
Anthony Rizzo Keeps Getting Better, by Corinne Landrey
Which doesn’t seem fair, really.
Your Most (Recently) Added Ottoneu Players, by Joe Douglas
Four very interesting players in this latest breakdown from Joe.
The Saga of Superstations and Baseball’s Historical Resistance to Technology, by Jack Moore
Jack takes a look at baseball broadcasts with an eye on technology.
THURSDAY
Congress Is Asked to “Save America’s Pastime”, by Nathaniel Grow
There are very few baseball-related news items that make me legitimately mad. This is one of them.
Picking the 2016 American League All-Stars, by Dave Cameron
Dave pushes his Mookie Betts bias far enough to keep him out of his starting lineup. Dave also put forth his NL All-Stars.
Who Will Hate Robot Umps the Most?, by Eno Sarris
Like Eno, I’m not a fan, but I realize it’ll happen eventually.
Quality of Pitchers Faced, by Scott Spratt
Wherein we see that four Yankees’ hitters have faced some really easy competition.
It’s Time for the Sabermetric Revolution to be Televised, by Neil Weinberg
Neil takes a look at baseball broadcasts with an eye on terminology.
We’re In a Golden Age of the Lefty Fastball, by OTTB_Sean
There are three lefties in particular who are getting extreme velocity, rise and run.
FRIDAY
Implications of Red Sox’ Ban from International Signing Period, by Eric Longenhagen
As if his normal July 2 workload wasn’t big enough, Eric also put together this thoughtful piece on Boston’s international signing ban.
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.