After the jump is a table that shows the major league totals in various hitting categories for the 2013 regular season as compared to the 2012 regular season, and some discussion of what the table shows. Continue reading
The ascension of the Pittsburgh Pirates, from two decades of losing to 94 wins and the NL Wild Card, was not an easy one. The franchise had to completely revamp everything; from they way they do business on the international market to the way they play on the field. Gone were the frugal Pirates of the past. In 2011, GM Neil Huntington and his mates scoured the high seas, spending a record $17 million in the amateur draft in order to turn the franchise around. And while many of those players (top pick Gerrit Cole aside) have yet to make an impact on the big league level, the message was sent. Pittsburgh was here to compete.
That aggressive front office approach in the draft has bled over into other areas of the franchise as well. After decades of doing everything in their power to avoid spending money on free agents, Pittsburgh opened up the coffers for Russell Martin, who was brought in on a 2-year/$17 million dollar deal to fortify what had previously been an extremely weak catching position. Along with Martin, veterans AJ Burnett, Wandy Rodriguez, and Justin Morneau among others have been traded for in an effort to raise the roster’s overall talent level. And perhaps most importantly, modern-day analytical analysis has been embraced.
Nowhere is that new, modern approach to baseball more evident than in the Pirates’ commitment to the defensive shift. Pittsburgh was one of the shiftiest teams in baseball this season, using one defensive maneuver or another over 400 times. That ranks 2nd among all of the franchises currently in the playoffs, trailing only the original super-shifters, the Tampa Bay Rays. That’s a huge jump from 2012, when Pittsburgh shifted just 105 times and the numbers back up just how effective all those extra defensive movements were. Pittsburgh ranked 3rd in baseball as a team in defensive runs saved and they finished tied for 7th in the league in defensive efficiency, which is the percentage of balls put in play that are then converted into outs.
Your thoughts? Here are a few of my disordered brainwaves:
The LDS series begin later this week. After the jump, a quick look at the players who have historically fared the best and the worst in the LDS round.
Also, a look at which teams match up best and worst with which other teams, based on this season’s play.
All of the players in today’s quiz were active before the end of World War II. Except one, who needs no introduction. But, what season feat have only these players accomplished in the history of major league baseball?
| Rk | Year |
|---|---|
| 1 | Candy LaChance |
| 2 | Jake Daubert |
| 3 | Duffy Lewis |
| 4 | Ripper Collins |
| 5 | Larry Gardner |
| 6 | Red Rolfe |
| 7 | Billy Johnson |
| 8 | Enos Slaughter |
| 9 | Cal Ripken |
| 10 | Hank Greenberg |
Congratulations to Bix! He correctly identified that only the players in today’s quiz have played every inning of every game at one position, including the post-season, for a World Series winning team. Only Billy Johnson did this to start his career. Among this year’s playoff teams, only Prince Fielder and Joey Votto played every game, but neither played every inning (resting your regulars for the post-season is evidently a more recent strategy).
ERA+ has issues. This was brought to my attention awhile ago by Sky Kalkman (see the Storify for lots of gruesome details). I’ve written about some of the issues with ERA+ as they relate to Rick Reuschel. But today I want to bring up something different.
I was looking at the ERA+ career leaders (you know, because Mariano Rivera). I found this:
Only 40 pitchers have an ERA+ of 130 or better (1000+ IP). 174 hitters have an OPS+ of 130 or better (3000+ PA).
— Adam Darowski (@baseballtwit) September 30, 2013
While attention was focused on the sprint to the finish for the AL wild card contenders, Miami quietly completed a weekend sweep of the AL Central champion Tigers with a 1-0 walk-off win in the first no-hit game pitched by Henderson Alvarez.
In the first ever season-ending inter-league game, Alvarez required only 99 pitches to retire the Tigers who reached base only 3 times, on a 1st inning hit by pitch, a 5th inning error and a 9th inning walk, all with two outs. No Tiger would reach second base.
The players in this quiz are the only pitchers since 1916 to achieve a certain game feat. What is this unusual pitching accomplishment?
| Rk | Player |
|---|---|
| 1 | James Shields |
| 2 | Floyd Youmans |
| 3 | Mike Paxton |
| 4 | Cliff Lee |
| 5 | Anthony Reyes |
| 6 | Mark Portugal |
| 7 | Brian Anderson |
| 8 | Clarence Mitchell |
| 9 | Hippo Vaughn |
Congratulations to Chris C and Insert Name Here! They teamed up to identify the players in the quiz as the only US-born pitchers who, in a regulation 9-inning (or longer) game since 1916, suffered a 1-0 CG loss on a home run, despite allowing no walks and no more than 3 hits. Cliff Lee and James Shields are the most recent additions to this club, with starts in the final week of this season and last. More after the jump.
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Take a look at Fangraphs’ Wins Above Replacement leader board for position players since 2010 and you’ll notice plenty of familiar suspects among the top 10. There’s Miguel Cabrera sitting on top of the pile, followed closely by Robinson Cano and Joey Votto. Andrew McCutchen and his long flowing locks sit in the middle, as do a pair of popular AL 3rd basemen. Baseball’s next legend Mike Trout sits near the bottom of the list of 10, despite having spent what equates to an entire season in the minors. Suspended slugger Ryan Braun rounds out the bottom of the group. Tucked in among those perennial All-Stars and highlight-making machines is one of the last guys you would ever suspect: Ben Zobrist.
The Rays’ super-utility All-Star has carved out a highly valuable, highly important role on Joe Maddon’s roster by acting as the franchise’s Swiss army knife. Do you need someone to cover 3rd base in order to give Evan Longoria a day off? Call on Zobrist. Do you need a right fielder until Wil Myers is good and ready for the big leagues? Zobrist. How about a middle infielder who can make all the plays? Zobrist, Zobrist, Zobrist. He affords Joe Maddon a level of flexibility that few other players in baseball history can match and he’s been doing it for years now.
Hello everybody! Over the next few days I am going to be doing a series of articles previewing the playoffs. Since predicting 5 or 7 game series is a pointless endeavor, I am instead going to rank the remaining teams in particular areas. These are somewhat subjective, due to the fact that teams change over the course of a season, I can’t just go simply by WAR. I am well aware these articles are somewhat cliche, but they are fun and pretty much the only way to do a playoff preview that is worth a damn. A few notes before we begin; until we have a more clear picture as to what teams are going to be in the AL wildcard I will be including 11 teams instead of 10. The 11 teams are BOS, DET, OAK, CLE, TBR, TEX, ATL, STL, LAD, PIT, and CIN. Once one of the 11 is eliminated I will no longer include them. Also these rankings are just based on current starters, I will be doing a bench rankings later, but players don’t get rest days in the postseason. One final note, I am including catcher in the middle infield list. You may feel it should be it’s own separate category, but you aren’t writing this are you? Sorry, that was uncalled for, anywho off to the rankings. Continue reading