The Best of FanGraphs: May 21-25, 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, 5/21
Salvador Perez Has a Complicated Relationship With the Strike Zone, by Noah Courtney
Okay, but did they change their Facebook status tho?

The Chemistry of Masking Agents, by Stephanie Springer
An excerpt: “In his statement following the suspension, Cano claimed he took a diuretic under the supervision of a licensed doctor in the Dominican Republic as part of treatment for an undisclosed medical condition, and was unaware at the time that the medication was on the banned substances list. It’s possible Cano has (or had) a medical condition that required the use of a diuretic. We know his 2015 season was marred by a number of health issues, including a nagging stomach ailment. So what purpose would a diuretic serve?”

Baseball’s Hardest Thrower Gets the Second-Fewest Strikeouts, by Jeff Sullivan
Talk about unfair.

The Rays Have Innovated Again, by Travis Sawchik
Alright, Einsteins. We get it.

Juan Soto Is the Fastest to Majors Since A-Rod, by Eric Longenhagen
This sounds like the beginning of a rap lyric to me. I would be a very bad rapper.

TUESDAY, 5/22
Watching Andrew McCutchen Come Home, by Annie Maroon
An excerpt: “Ask me again in 2038, but I think a few things will define my version of McCutchen. Above all, that late night in July of 2015, and the slow, purposeful strut he made into his mob of waiting teammates at home plate. The PNC Park video board feature in 2010 where various players were asked to sing. McCutchen regaled us with The Four Tops’ “I Can’t Help Myself.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, the dude can sing, too. It seemed like he could do anything.”

Mike Trout Is Now an Average Hall of Famer, by Jay Jaffe
What, like it’s hard?

WEDNESDAY, 5/23
The Mariners Have to Thread a Very Small Needle, by Jeff Sullivan
Is this a Mr. Miyagi thing where the thread will teach them hand-eye coordination? I’ll take my answer off the air.

THURSDAY, 5/24
Wild Windups: Do They Help?, by Jeff Sullivan
It’s the Wild Windup West, y’all.

Gleyber Torres and the Yankees’ Pursuit of the Team Homer Record, by Jay Jaffe
And this is no Trivial Pursuit.

The Impact of the NFL’s Anthem Rule on Baseball, by Sheryl Ring
This article includes a Star Wars GIF, so if you don’t click it, it’s not my fault.

FRIDAY, 5/25
Pitcher Spotlight: The Real Alex Wood, by Nick Pollack
Will he please stand up?

Robinson Cano, Carlos Gomez, and the Illusion of Certainty, by Sheryl Ring
From Sheryl: “The trouble is that different kinds of proof exist. First, there’s the burden of proof. In other words, whose responsibility is it to prove their case? In civil law, it’s the plaintiff who has the burden of proving its case, and the defense has the burden of proving defenses. But even that is a bit misleading; the defense doesn’t have to prove anything. If the plaintiff doesn’t prove every legally required part of its case, the defense wins even if the defense provides no evidence at all.”