The last four years have been tough on Dontrelle Willis. He started his Major League career with a bang, winning the 2003 National League Rookie of the Year award along with a shiny World Series ring when his Florida Marlins bested the New York Yankees in six games (thanks, Steve Bartman!). From 2003 to [...]
Posted by Bill Baer on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 at 10:36 am
Filed under Archive, Authors A-F, Bill Baer, Main Page, Major League News, Miscellaneous, News · Tagged Arizona Diamondbacks, Batters, Billy Buckner, Change Of Scenery, D Backs, D Train, Disagreement, Dontrelle Willis, Face, Florida Marlins, Fly Ball, Franchise, Giant Cliff, Ground Balls, League Career, Major League, Miguel Cabrera, Mirage, National League Rookie, National League Rookie Of The Year, New York Yankees, Nine Innings, Rookie Of The Year, Shiny World, Six Games, Southpaw, Starting Pitchers, Steve Bartman, Strikeout Rate, Two Thirds, Walks, World Series, World Series Ring
Prior to yesterday’s 5-3 win over the Boston Red Sox, the Philadelphia Phillies had lost 14 of their previous 19 games, a losing percentage of .737. In that span of time, the offense collectively got on base at a .292 clip and slugged .303. If Charlie Manuel instead cloned Eric Bruntlett eight times and sent [...]
Posted by Bill Baer on Monday, June 14, 2010 at 7:51 am
Filed under Archive, Baseball Info, Bill Baer, Main Page, Major League News · Tagged Boston Red Sox, Bric A Brac, Career Average, Charlie Manuel, Chase Utley, First Baseman, Greg Dobbs, Home Run Derby, Jayson Werth, Mvp Award, Offensive Performance, Philadelphia Phillies, Raul Ibanez, Right Fielder, Ryan Howard, Second Baseman, Seidman, St Louis Cardinals, Stanley Cup Finals, Woba
St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina has developed into quite the asset. He has earned two Gold Glove awards in each of the past two seasons and was nominated to his first career All-Star Game — in the starting lineup, no less — last year. Since Molina was called up to the Majors in 2004, [...]
Posted by Bill Baer on Monday, June 7, 2010 at 6:46 am
Filed under Archive, Baseball Info, Bill Baer, Featured, Main Page, Major League News · Tagged Aggression, Backstop, Baseball Reference, Basepaths, Detroit Tigers, Gold Glove Awards, Major League Baseball, Majors, Molina Brothers, Running Game, St Louis Cardinals, Standard Deviation, Standard Deviations, Star Game, Starting Lineup, Success Rate, Three Seasons, Two Seasons, Yadier Molina, Z Score
“Ryan Howard is the preeminent power hitter of our generation!” yelled Philadelphia’s ESPN radio host Mike Missanelli, at guest Keith Law also of ESPN. It’s true: from 2006-09, Howard averaged 49.5 HR and 143 RBI per season. Over the past three calendar years, no one has hit more HR (139) or driven in more runs [...]
Posted by Bill Baer on Tuesday, June 1, 2010 at 5:05 pm
Filed under Archive, Baseball Info, Bill Baer, Main Page, Major League News · Tagged Calendar Years, David Eckstein, Espn, Espn Radio, Fastballs, Home Run Derby, Homers, Jason Kendall, Loogy, Mike Missanelli, Nl Rookie, Pitch Type, Power Hitter, Power Iso, Preeminent Power, Radio Host, Ryan Howard, Ryan Theriot, Three Seasons, Woba
As mentioned in last week’s article, Sabermetrics wasn’t always so popular. When Bill James first applied statistical analysis to baseball, he was a night watchman at a pork-and-beans plant. The Internet was in its infancy and home computers were not yet a staple of the American home. Baseball stats were found on the backs of [...]
Posted by Bill Baer on Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 11:51 pm
Filed under Archive, Baseball Info, Bill Baer, Main Page, Major League News · Tagged Baseball Fans, Baseball Prospectus, Baseball Reference, Baseball Stats, Batting Average, Clutch Hitter, Fangraphs, Fielding Percentage, Habitable Environment, Home Baseball, Iphone, Ipod Touch, Lichtman, Night Watchman, Player Cards, Pork And Beans, Sabermetrics, Safari Browser, Voros McCracken, Woba
The Tampa Bay Rays have, by far, the best pitching staff in baseball. Their arms have allowed just a smidge over three runs per game on average and their worst starter, Wade Davis, has a 3.35 ERA. Only two relievers have disappointed: Andy Sonnanstine, whose ERA was at 2.20 before a four-run shellacking by the [...]
Posted by Bill Baer on Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Filed under Baseball Info, Bill Baer, Main Page, Major League News · Tagged Andrew Friedman, Andy Sonnanstine, Ben Zobrist, Carl Crawford, David Price, Good Fortune, James Shields, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Rafael Soriano, Randy Choate, Relief Efforts, Siera, Smidge, Starting Pitchers, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Thousandths, Uzr, Wade Davis
Sabermetrics used to be a niche segment of the baseball fan population. This was back before Baseball Prospectus and FanGraphs and Beyond the Box Score. Number-crunchers would take to newsgroups and hypothesize and research and debate with like-minded baseball fanatics. Their findings would, generally speaking, produce but a faint echo out of mom’s basement. Hardly [...]
Posted by Bill Baer on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 at 3:03 pm
Filed under Archive, Baseball Info, Bill Baer, Main Page, Major League News · Tagged Baseball Fan, Baseball Fanatics, Baseball Prospectus, Bill Simmons, Boston Globe, Cy Young, Cy Young Award, Dan Shaughnessy, Faint Echo, Fangraphs, Mainstream Media, Max Info, Merced Sun Star, Murray Chass, Nitwits, Number Crunchers, Sabermetrics, Score Number, Sports Columnist, Steve Cameron, Zack Greinke
Tom Tango is the progenitor of yet another useful baseball statistic. With a catch-all offensive statistic (weighted on-base average) and a stat that focuses solely on what a pitcher can directly control (fielding-independent pitching statistic), Tango has recently spawned a stat that more precisely describes a relief pitcher’s contribution to his team’s chances of winning [...]
Posted by Bill Baer on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 at 4:58 pm
Filed under Archive, Authors A-F, Baseball Info, Bill Baer, Main Page, Major League News, Miscellaneous, News · Tagged Brad Lidge, Differential, Fame Career, Fangraphs, Hall Of Fame, Instinct, Joba Chamberlain, Mariano Rivera, Meltdown, Mother And Father, New York Yankees, Percentages, Phillies Fans, Plethora, Pressure Situations, Progenitor, Relief Pitcher, Ryan Madson, Sergio Mitre, Shutdowns, Statistic, Threshold, Wpa
Heading into the start of the 2010 regular season, much of the focus was on the unlimited potential of prospects like Jason Heyward, Stephen Strasburg, Austin Jackson, and Mike Stanton. When will Strasburg be called up to the Majors? Will Heyward lead the Braves to their first playoff appearance in five years? Can Jackson become [...]
Posted by Bill Baer on Thursday, May 6, 2010 at 10:30 am
Filed under Archive, Bill Baer, Main Page, Major League News · Tagged Albert Pujols, Andruw Jones, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Comeback Player, Curtis Granderson, Cy Young, Cy Young Award, Jason Heyward, Jayson Werth, Kenny Williams, League Job, Lee Roy, Los Angeles Dodgers, Mike Stanton, Nl Mvp Award, Plate Appearance, Playoff Appearance, Roy Halladay, Texas Rangers, Tim Lincecum
Last Friday, we took a look at some hitters off to hot starts and made judgments on whether or not they are realistic and sustainable. Today we will look at pitchers from the same angle.
Pitchers Who Won’t Keep It Up
Livan Hernandez, Washington Nationals
Livan has been a magician in his first four starts, compiling a 0.87 [...]
Posted by Bill Baer on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at 11:33 am
Filed under Archive, Bill Baer, Main Page, Major League News · Tagged Alberto Gonzalez, Base Runners, Brad Penny, Cleveland Indians, Defensive Games, josh willingham, Livan Hernandez, Magic Trick, Mike Pelfrey, Mitch Talbot, National League Pitcher, Nine Innings, Siera, Smidge, Strikeout Rate, Time Players, Ubaldo Jimenez, Uzr, Washington Nationals, Willy Taveras