The Best of FanGraphs: June 8-12, 2015

by
June 13, 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 Broken Bats, Protective Netting, and the “Baseball Rule”, by Nathaniel Grow
Did you know about the “baseball rule?” I sure didn’t.

Carlos Correa’s Fantasy Value, by Brett Talley
Hopefully you’ve sorted out Correa’s value by now, but if you haven’t, make sure to read Brett’s piece before you make any big decisions.

OOTP Experiment — International All-Stars, Pt. 1: The Concept, by Shane Tourtellotte
If you like baseball, and you like fun, do yourself a favor and read this three-part series from Shane, who moves one step closer to the FanGraphs family EGOT. Here are Part 2 (the regular season) and Part 3 (the rest-of-the-World Series).

TUESDAY
Thoughts on Last Night’s Draft Proceedings, by Kiley McDaniel
In the charge toward the draft, Kiley put in a lot of sweat into creating superb draft content for us here at FanGraphs. This article represents his final word on the first day of the proceedings.

The Change: Average Movement For Each Pitch Type, by Eno Sarris
Eno provides a handy reference tool, and then applies it to some young pitchers. Hard to beat that.

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Joc Pederson as George Springer as Evolving Juggernaut, by Alex Chamberlain
Nothing stops the Juggernaut!

WEDNESDAY
Xander Bogaerts and the Uneven Road to Success, by Owen Watson
Some interesting revelations from Owen here, and also a prescient comment from frequent reader TZ.

The Plays Behind Chris Heston, by Jeff Sullivan
The Mets didn’t make Chris Heston work very hard, but Jeff did work hard to give you a great breakdown.

Looking for the Ancestor of Hank Aaron XXIV, by Bradley Woodrum
The future of terrible baseball can teach us about the history of terrible baseball.

Closer by Conference Committee: The Stats Behind the Congressional Baseball Game, by Nathaniel Rakich
Just as he did last season, Nathaniel breaks down what could be the most powerful game in all the land. Here’s the spoiler on the final score, if you want it.

THURSDAY
Carlos Martinez Found His Pitch, by Jeff Sullivan
As Jeff says, that’s some pretty dangerous news.

Scott’s Miscellany – The Start After a No-Hitter, by Scott Spratt
Much ado about nothing? Perhaps. But still some marvelous research by Scott.

The Cyborg with a Mean Curved Ball, by Tyler Drenon
The possibilities may not have come into focus, but when they do, won’t we wonder what enhanced human beings can do in sports?

Delino DeShields and the Baseline BABIP for Speedy Players, by fawkesmulder
Putting some more thought into defining how a subset of players should perform on balls in play.

FRIDAY
Proposing an All-Star Overhaul, by Dave Cameron
I’m all in on this fresh idea from Dave, though I agree with commenter McNulty that the younglings should play the gray beards.





 

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.

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