The Best of FanGraphs: May 28-June 1, 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.

TUESDAY, 5/29
Marcell Ozuna has Changed, Again, by zjgifford
Turn and face the straaange …

The Science Behind Welington Castillo’s Curious PED Selection, by Luis Torres
An excerpt: “Castillo is a catcher, which might be the most physically demanding position on the field. It is important to note that EPO can help with lactic acid build up. You can see how that could appeal to baseball players, especially ones who spend much of a game crouching. It is possible they suffer the most lactic acid build-up of any other position. They undoubtedly suffer a lot of soreness when they wake up in the morning.”

Introducing the 2018 MLB Draft Board, by Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel
Allow Eric and Kiley to walk you through FanGraphs 2018 draft board.

Things You Learn When the Mets Bat Out of Turn, by Meg Rowley
Baseball goes out of its way to try to teach us lessons. The least we can do is listen.

WEDNESDAY, 5/30
The Most Talented Man Who Never Pitched in the Majors, by Alexis Brudnicki
An excerpt: “When McFarland found success with his experimental artwork, he still had an issue gaining exposure, and lacked an understanding of the world of art. So, he took a chance. The native of San Jose printed up flyers with highlights of his work, and took them to local galleries, often slipping them under the doors of those galleries when they were closed.”

Anthony Rizzo, Joe Maddon, and the Dangerous Play, by Craig Edwards
You remember the slide that the Cubs first baseman imparted a bit right of home plate this week. (If you don’t, this article will jog your memory.) Craig explains what should have been the league’s next steps.

Finding the Next Edwin Díaz, by Jake Mailhot
In his fourth and final entry of his May residency, Jake braves the jungles of numbers and evaluations to find the next Edwin.

The Continuing Evolution of Justin Verlander, by Jeff Sullivan
Darwin would be proud.

THURSDAY, 5/31
Remembering the Career of Kyle Lohse, by Alex Remington
An excerpt: “Still, Lohse had a remarkable career. He was the second-best Native American baseball player of the last 30 years, behind only Jacoby Ellsbury, and the second-best-ever athlete to come from the Northern Section of California, near Chico, behind only Aaron Rodgers. He’s also one of the last draft-and-follow stars, as he was selected by the Cubs in the 1996 draft but did not sign until the following year, a draft practice that has been effectively banned for a decade. And as Chris Jaffe wrote here five years ago, he’s one of the only pitchers to have defeated 30 different teams.”

The Diamondbacks Were Just Impossibly Bad, by Jeff Sullivan
If you’re gonna be bad, you may as well be the best at it.

Luke Heimlich and Relitigating the Past, by Sheryl Ring
Sheryl takes on the potential drafting of a convicted child molester in the 2018 MLB draft.

FRIDAY, 6/1
The Daily Grind: A Sale on Sale, by Brad Johnson
No coupon needed.

Max Scherzer Has Somehow Been Better, by Jay Jaffe
Mad Max was the best pitcher in the league last year. Now, he’s even better than that.