baseball
Sabermetric analysis of all things baseball - on-and-off the field. Barry Bonds fan club.
An Exercise in Generating Similarity Scores
In the process of writing an article, one of the more frustrating things to do is generate comparisons to a given player. Whether I am trying to figure out who most closely aligns with Rougned Odor or Miguel Sano, it is a time-consuming and inexact process to find good comparisons. So, I tried to simplify the process and make it more exact—using similarity scores.
By John Edwards8 years ago in Unbalanced
Ronald Acuna: The Future of the Atlanta Braves
Ronald Acuna came into the start of the 2017 season with one question to answer: Can he stay healthy and perform at a high level for a full season? That question was soon answered. Acuna had an outstanding 2017, which was his first full pro season since making his pro debut in 2015. The Venezuelan hit .325 with 21 homers, including stops in High A, Double-A, and ending in Triple-A with the Gwinnett Braves, where he tore up AAA pitching, hitting an astounding .344 in 55 games in the International League.
By Quinn Allen8 years ago in Unbalanced
St. Louis Cardinals: Offseason 2017 Preview
After two seasons of missing the playoffs, Cardinals fans are becoming increasingly frustrated. Every fan wants their team to succeed, but are we spoiled? Over the past decade, St. Louis has been in the playoffs practically every year, won a World Series, but it still doesn't seem good enough.
By Aaron Mullins8 years ago in Unbalanced
Remembering Roy Halliday
When the news broke of Roy Halliday's death in the late afternoon of November 7, I was in shock. “No way,” I thought to myself. “It can’t be him. He is young and just retired from baseball.” But, as the news continued for the day, and his passing was confirmed, a wave of grief and loss hit me hard.
By James Roller8 years ago in Unbalanced
How Do You Hit 30 HR While Being the Worst Hitter in Baseball?
On the surface, Rougned Odor had a pretty decent 2017. He got paid $1.3 million, was healthy the whole season, and on top of it all, he hit 30+ home runs for the second straight season. That is about as far as good things go; Odor posted the single worst wRC+ and OBP of 2017 among qualifiers, and barely hit above the Mendoza line. Yes, someone who hit 30 home runs was worse at the plate than Alciedes "What's an extra-base hit?" Escobar.
By John Edwards8 years ago in Unbalanced
Qualifying Offer Part Two: Pitchers
The World Series may have been an incredible finish to the 2017 season, but baseball is a 365-day business. All thirty teams had until the afternoon of November 6 to issue a qualifying offer to any of their pending free agents. The qualifying offer is a one-year deal with a value equal to the average of MLB’s top 125 salaries in the most current season. This year, the value is $17.4 million.
By Matt Mocarsky8 years ago in Unbalanced
J.D. Martinez Would be a Perfect Fit for the Red Sox This Offseason
When the Arizona Diamondbacks acquired J.D. Martinez at the trade deadline, I wrote a short article about how Martinez would thrive playing in the hot, dry weather in Arizona. Coming from Detroit, where he hit 38 home runs in 2015, to a climate where the ball flies. Well, that is exactly what happened: Martinez came to Arizona with 16 homers, and within 62 games with the Diamondbacks, he hit an astounding 29 homers. He was a big reason Arizona even made the postseason in 2017, finishing the season with a .303 average and 45 bombs.
By Quinn Allen8 years ago in Unbalanced
Is It Time to Rethink Hitter's Counts?
Hitters have always lived by the idea that they will try and work the count in their favor to not only get closer to a walk, but to force the pitcher to be more predictable. Limit the pitcher down to just throwing you a fastball, and give yourself a better chance at guessing correctly. Pitchers do not want to walk people and will throw their fastball much more predictably as they fall down in the count.
By Owen McGrattan8 years ago in Unbalanced
Qualifying Offer Part One: First Base
The World Series may have been an incredible finish to the 2017 season, but baseball is a year round business. All 30 teams had until the afternoon of November 6 to issue a Qualifying Offer to any of their pending free agents. The Qualifying Offer is a one year deal with a value equal to the average of MLB’s top 125 salaries in the most current season. This year, the value is $17.4 million.
By Matt Mocarsky8 years ago in Unbalanced
Has the Qualifying Offer Been Worth It?
The off-season is officially upon us, and the ups and downs of the playoffs have been replaced with hushed whispers of trade rumors and the frantic refreshing of Ken Rosenthal's Twitter feed. Free agents officially filed this Monday, and nine players were tagged with qualifying offers — one-year contracts for a league-set salary from a player's former team that, if declined, entitle the former team to a draft pick between the first and second round of the 2018 MLB Amateur draft. Of all of the players who have received qualifying offers, only five have ever accepted them for various reasons. How has each player who took the QO fared after taking the offer?
By John Edwards8 years ago in Unbalanced
Bullpenning and Usage Featuring Brandon Morrow
After a year in which he notched a stellar K-BB% of 24.1 percent, Brandon Morrow fashioned himself into the most trusted reliever in the Dodgers bullpen not named Kenley Jansen. Morrow has appeared in 12 of the Dodgers 13 games this postseason, including every single game of the World Series. If 2016 was the year of bullpen usage in the highest leverage situations, 2017 has been the year of bullpen usage, period. Much has been made of the idea that “bullpenning” games work in the playoffs after Joe Girardi used his bullpen to shut the Twins down in the AL Wild Card Game. While a team with viable pitching depth, such as New York or Houston, can afford to pull their starters after two times through the order, let’s consider the toll bullpenning takes on individuals who are heavily counted on.
By Matt Mocarsky8 years ago in Unbalanced
MLB shows bark, no bite with Gurriel suspension
I'm going to save you the trouble of every other take on the Gurriel suspension that you've already read, and skip over the general talking points. Yes, Gurriel has no excuse for that behavior and his actions, he played in Japan and he should know better, racism is bad, yadda yadda. You've heard it all ad infinitum before. Glad we can all agree that racism is bad. It's far more important to address the MLB's response to Gurriel's actions, because we'll all forget about Gurriel come next spring (hell, Houston fans have already forgotten), but the precedent of the MLB's ruling will linger on for years and possibly decades.
By John Edwards8 years ago in Unbalanced
