The Best of FanGraphs: October 2-6

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
The Players Who Defined 2017, by Dave Cameron
Dave tells the season through the story of four players, three of whom are still playing.

Players’ View: Are Today’s Analytically Inclined Players Tomorrow’s GMs?, by David Laurila
As he so often does, David talks to a variety of people, from players, to coaches/managers and front office executives.

The Indians Did Have Maybe the Best Pitching Staff Ever, by Jeff Sullivan
Jeff called it a few weeks ago, and it turns out he was right. Jeff has a habit of being right.

Jeff Zimmerman’s 2017 Bold Predictions – A Review, by Jeff Zimmerman
The leader in the clubhouse with 5.5 correct predictions, give a round of applause to Mr. Zimmerman.

TUESDAY
Players to Root for in the Playoffs, by Craig Edwards
If you don’t like Carlos Beltran, chances are you’re a Mets fan.

WEDNESDAY
Indians Go Unconventional, Again, by Travis Sawchick
And it couldn’t have worked out better. Kudos to Cleveland for always being willing to take a different approach.

Tout Wars Mixed Auction: A Year of Mistakes, by Jeff Zimmerman
If you didn’t know any better, you’d think Jeff bit the dust hard. He actually won his league.

On Winning AL-Only Tout Wars, by Mike Podhorzer
Mike’s title is far less misleading. Congrats to both Jeff and Mike on their victories!

2018 Too Early Mock Drafts ADP, by Justin Mason
Justin did yeoman’s work here. I’m a little surprised at how low a certain Yankees slugger went in these.

Alex Chamberlain’s 2017 Bold Predictions – A Review, by Alex Chamberlain
As Alex said about his 0-fer, just take me out back and put me out of my misery.

A New Classic in Sabermetric Literature, by Dave Studeman
If Studes says something is good, then it’s good.

2017 Sabermetric Awards by Henry
These are good awards.

THURSDAY
Archie Bradley’s Triple Was More Improbable Than You Think, by Jeff Sullivan
The Arizona set-up man was a really bad hitter when he was a starting pitcher, and, obviously, he’s no longer a starting pitcher.

The Three Pitches That Matter for Chris Sale, by Carson Cistulli
None of the three were really working in Game 1, but that doesn’t make Carson’s analysis any less impactful.

FRIDAY
The Cubs Survived the World Series Hangover, by Craig Edwards
And as long as they know how to love, I know they’ll stay alive.