Recent Posts

  • AL Gallardo Awards: Honoring the Worst Players in Baseball

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    Traditional awards spend too much time acknowledging baseball’s best performances, let’s take a look at the other end of the spectrum in honor of Yovani Gallardo!

  • Enhancing the Quality Start

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    M-SABR graduate advisor Kyle Kumbier takes a thoroughly-researched deep dive into improving the Quality Start.

  • MLB Network Top 10 Right Now Recap & Analysis: Third Base

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    Jose Ramirez leads both the Shredder and M-SABR’s lists despite the sheer depth of third base talent in baseball.

  • MLB Network 2019 Top 10 Right Now Recap & Analysis: Second Base

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    Is Jed Lowrie the best non-Altuve second baseman in all of Major League Baseball? We agree with The Shredder that he is.

  • The Case for the Hall: Scott Rolen

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    When all was said and done, Rolen finished his career as one of the best defensive third basemen of all-time who also carried an above-average bat for the majority of his career. The trouble is that Rolen was never seen as a team leader, and never led the league in any statistical categories. For voters that are all-in on triple crown stats, Rolen’s leave something to be desired—his 2077 hits would be the lowest total of any third baseman enshrined since World War II and his run and RBI totals are good, but nothing spectacular. Additionally, his reputation as a “clubhouse cancer,” as some teammates in Philadelphia referred to him, is doing him no favors.

  • The Case for the Hall: Andruw Jones

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    According to Fangraphs’ Defensive Runs Above Average stat (DEF), which attempts to measure a player’s value relative to others at his position and relative to other positions, Jones’ DEF is 278.8, first among all outfielders to ever play the game of baseball. Jones’ DEF is eons ahead of second place Willie Mays’ DEF, which is a mere 100 runs lower at 170.1. The gap between Jones’ 278.8 DEF and Mays’ 170.1 DEF is larger than the gap between Mays’ DEF and 27th-placed Chet Lemon’s 63.3 DEF. And Baseball Reference agrees with Fangraphs—they credit Jones with 234.7 runs saved from fielding, first among all outfielders ever.

  • The Case for the Hall: Larry Walker

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    Some people prefer to elect folks who had long careers only, but Walker was so good during his prime that the fact that he only played for 17 years should not come back to bite him. JAWS, which is a metric that takes a player’s career rWAR and averages it with their 7-year peak rWAR gives Walker a 58.7 JAWS. The average Hall of Fame right fielder has a JAWS of 57.8, which is right around what Walker has. Keep in mind that WAR already penalizes Walker for his home ballpark, so these numbers include an adjustment for Coors. I don’t like to use WAR as the be-all end-all stat, but it’s good to use as a benchmark and Walker measures up perfectly.

  • 2018 Off-Season Preview: NL West

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    The Dodgers and Rockies are postseason contenders, while the Diamondbacks are entering a rebuild, the Padres are exiting a rebuild, and the Giants are… doing something.

  • Hot Take: Bryce Harper to the Atlanta Braves

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    Robert Banas discusses one of the hottest topics of this offseason: the fate of Bryce Harper.

  • 2018 Off-Season Preview: NL Central

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    Can the Brewers build upon their fantastic run in 2018 or will the Cubs (or someone else) take the crown?

  • 2018 Off-Season Preview: NL East

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    Today we continue our off-season preview series with a look at the NL East, which has the potential for a number of interesting moves before the 2019 season. Here, we discuss how the Mets might actually have a chance at competing (don’t hold your breath) and how the Braves will look for another NL East title. The Phillies and that Gabe Kapler guy are looking pretty interesting, too.