The Best of FanGraphs: October 3-7, 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.

ALL WEEK
2016 Bold Predictions Review, by Err’body
With the regular season in the books, it was time for the RotoGraphs team to review their preseason Bold Predictions. Mike Podhorzer kicked things off Tuesday morning, and all told a dozen writers looked back at theirs.

MONDAY
How Should We Evaluate a Manager?, by Eno Sarris
It’s not an easy or enviable task, but Eno builds off of some recent work to make something tangible.

Players’ View: Farewell David Ortiz, by David Laurila
He’s not gone just yet, but David spoke with 15 players about him just the same.

Why Extending the Blue Jays Spring Training Location Isn’t In Tampa Bay’s Best Interest, by Michael Lortz
A well-researched piece on an area of the business we don’t pay as much attention to as we should.

TUESDAY
Buck Showalter and the Zach Britton Test, by Dave Cameron
Dave wrote about the need to get Zach Britton into the game before it began.

The 2016 Strike Zone, by Jon Roegele
Jon breaks down the strike zone, and finds that the umpires have been improving.

WEDNESDAY
The Craziest Part of Showalter’s Crazy Decision, by Dave Cameron
Buck Showalter failed his test.

Syndergaard’s Stolen-Base Problem and the Postseason, by Gerald Schifman
Gerald’s first piece at FanGraphs highlighted what would be a bit of a focal point in Wednesday’s game, as Denard Span did attempt two stolen bases.

The Top 10 Plays of 2016 According to Championship WPA, by Dan Hirsch
In Dan’s THT debut, he uses his version of championship WPA to pinpoint the season’s biggest plays.

THURSDAY
Saying Goodbye by Reviewing my 2016 Bold Predictions, by Zach Sanders
It’s with a heavy heart that we see Zach depart from our electronic pages. Zach, you will be missed.

The xStats Awards: Best Starter, Reliever, and Batter, by Andrew Perpetua
Some very interesting names on these three lists, including Steven Matz.

FRIDAY
The Night the Indians Flipped the Bullpen Script, by August Fagerstrom
Terry Francona managed for the best-case scenario instead of the worst-case scenario, which was refreshing.

Terry Francona Knew When to Ignore the Leverage Index, by Neil Weinberg
The decision may have seemed odd at the time, but the leverage index isn’t everything.

Even Yu Darvish Makes Adjustments, by Eno Sarris
Unfortunately, after all the homers he allowed on Friday, he’ll have to adjust some more.

Minors To The Majors: Hitter Prospect Grades (Part 1), by Jeff Zimmerman
Follow along with Jeff as he embarks on this project.