The Best of FanGraphs: May 25-29, 2015

by
May 30, 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
Roto Riteup: May 25, 2015, by Zach Sanders
Even on Memorial Day, the crew at RotoGraphs is hard at work on daily content. In this piece, Zach has some good notes on Taijuan Walker.

TUESDAY
The Good and Bad News Regarding Robinson Cano, by Jeff Sullivan
Jeff reminds us that even the most consistent players are inconsistent players.

The Change: Hughes, Shoemaker, and The Limits of K-BB, by Eno Sarris
Eno, making all of the good points. He has an annoying habit of doing that.

Re-Examining WAR’s Defensive Spectrum, by Jeff Zimmerman
Now that we have more information, is it time to update our values?

WEDNESDAY
Joe Kelly: Perennially an Adjustment Away, by Eno Sarris
This is going to be a front runner for best article of the year. Oh, and the article was good too!

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We hope you'll consider a Membership today, for yourself or as a gift! And we realize this has been an awfully long sales pitch, so we've also removed all the other ads in this article. We didn't want to overdo it.

Batted-Ball Rates vs. Velocity Changes, by Jeff Zimmerman
Jeff puts together a bevy of fancy graphs to detail the two ways pitchers suffer as their velocity declines.

Can’t Science Solve Baseball’s Silly Foreign Substance Debate?, by David G. Temple
Science can cure this. Major League Baseball just has to devote some attention and resources to it.

THURSDAY
2015 MLB Mock Draft v2.0, by Kiley McDaniel
Kiley failed to note here that it would be cool if Dansby Swanson ended up playing in the same city that linebacker Karlos Dansby once called home, but other than that it was a bang-up job.

Cameron Maybin Wants Your Attention, by Alex Chamberlain
So much so, that he got two articles at RotoGraphs this week! Josh Shepardson checked in on Friday with some more love for the Braves center fielder.

New Findings About An Old Park, by Peter Bonney
Baseball’s quirky ballparks are one of the reasons it is the best sport going, and few are quirkier than Fenway Park.

Kitman Labs’ Profiler Helps Keep Athletes on the Field, by Bryan Cole
This is pretty damn cool.

REVIEW: Schmoylent, Bags of Powder from the Internet, by Bradley Woodrum
After reading this article about this new drink powder boom, I was interested to know more about the taste. Luckily, Bradley is here to help.

FRIDAY
Jeff Hoffman Surprisingly Polished in Return from Surgery, by Chris King
Chris’ debut piece at FanGraphs takes a close look at the heralded Blue Jays prospect.

The Expanded Strike Zone: It’s Baaaack…, by Jon Roegele
The strike zone has morphed in a way that is less equitable to certain hitters.

Concerns About Polanco, by Matt Fazio
Matt makes an apt comparison that will likely make Pirates fans shudder.





 

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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