The Best of FanGraphs: October 10-14, 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
Clay Buchholz Should Have a Very Short Leash, by Dave Cameron
“The Red Sox best chance to stay alive in the ALDS is to make sure Clay Buchholz isn’t given a chance to put them behind.” Those words proved omniscient in the fourth inning of Game 3, when Red Sox manager John Farrell, despite claiming that everyone on his pitching staff save David Price was available, decided to let Buchholz try to pitch out of a jam. He couldn’t, and now the Red Sox are golfing.

Contract Crowdsourcing 2016-17: Day 1 of 10, by Carson Cistulli
I know we’re all smitten with the postseason, and rightfully so, but take a few minutes each day to help Carson with the contract crowdsourcing. It helps all of us in the end.

Thoughts on my Tout Wars Championship, by Jeff Zimmerman
We are thrilled for Jeff, as he won his Tout Wars league this year. Here, he recounts some of the reasons why he believes he took home the crown.

Major Leaguers’ Tommy John Surgeries Trending Down, by Jon Roegele
Class is in session when Jon writes about Tommy John surgery. Hope you’re paying attention.

TUESDAY
The Change: The All Un Drafted Team, by Eno Sarris
The lesson as always, is that paying attention in April and May is — at the very least — just as important as the draft is.

The 2016 Graphical Review, by Dave Studeman
Studes doesn’t put internet pen to internet paper much these days, but when he does, I always learn something new.

WEDNESDAY
The History of Clayton Kershaw’s Postseason Bullpens, by August Fagerstrom
They haven’t been good, and August explains just how not good. Eventually, Clayton Kershaw had seen enough, and decided to finish things off. It had been a long time since he had earned a save. The last time he had, as Tim Brown pointed out in his excellent game story, his catcher was none other than Kenley Jansen. Mind. Blown.

That Was the Week of Javier Baez, by Jeff Sullivan
Javier Baez’s emergence has been one of the best stories of the postseason. You might not want to root for every member of the Cubs, but Baez has been worth rooting for.

THURSDAY
Toronto’s Advantage Against Cleveland, by Eno Sarris
Eno took the wind out of August’s sails by writing this piece, but August recovered in time to write not one, but two pieces where he looked at the Indians’ possible advantages.

MLB Turned a Blind Eye to Bobby Cox’s Domestic Abuse, by Britni de la Cretaz
Major League Baseball and the MLBPA now take domestic violence seriously, and that is a good thing. But it wasn’t always that way. In her well-researched Hardball Times debut, Britni looks back at one such instance when it wasn’t taken seriously.

FRIDAY
The MLB Playoffs Just Played to Their Base, by Jeff Sullivan
“Sweet surrender, that was one hell of a League Division Series,” is I believe what the lyrics to the remix were.

Don’t Blame This on Dusty Baker, by Dave Cameron
To be honest, any number of Dave’s pieces this week could have been included here. October is when Dave is at his best. I chose this one because defending Dusty Baker is not something we make a habit of in the baseball analysis community.

MLB Network Playoff Gamble Pays Off, Aids Viewers, by Craig Edwards
No longer the new kid on the block, MLB Network’s subscriber base is nothing to snicker at these days.

Ottoneu Arbitration Omnibus III, by Brad Johnson
If you are new to Ottoneu, or just looking for an extra edge next season as we move into offseason mode, this is the post for you.

Did the Cubs and Giants Have the Best Pitcher-Hitting Series Ever?, by Jim_Turvey
Jim takes a walk down memory lane to find how this year’s NLDS measures up.