Step right up and get your small-sample anomalies! That’s the subject of today’s BP/ESPN piece, which starts with a Yankee: We’re just past a third of the way through the season, and it’s no secret that the new Yankee Stadium has played as a hitter’s park thus far. After 29 games played in the Bronx, …
Continue reading ‘The Museum of Small-Sample Split Oddities’ »
With about 17 things on my plate this week, I didn’t get a chance to weigh in on the latest round of debates regarding Jorge Posada’s building candidacy for the Hall of Fame. Rob Neyer fired the opening salvo suggesting that while he’s probably the top catcher of the current decade, Posada isn’t worthy. Jonah …
Continue reading ‘You Discussed Posada’s Hall of Fame Candidacy and Didn’t Invite Me?’ »
Today I’ve got a piece on a topic that’s been kicking around the Yankeesphere for the past 18 months, and one that’s been the subject of heated internal debate practically since the dawn of the Baseball Prospectus/ESPN partnership: should Joba Chamberlain be moved to the bullpen. Two pieces, in fact, since the ESPN version differs …
There are futility infielders, and there are Futility Infielders. Today’s New York Times features a Tyler Kepner article on Yankee first base and infield coach Mick Kelleher, an exemplar of the good-field/no-hit players whose baseball cards clogged my collection in the late ’70s. Joe Posnanski has his Duane Kuiper, owner of one major league home …
Last week’s WWZN Young Guns radio hit, discussing Russ Ortiz’s short-lived lead over namesake David in the 2009 home run rankings, the possibility of the Blue Jays remaining factors in the AL East, the sudden power outbursts of Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez, and other fun stuff. The segment was recorded via iPhone while I …
For my money, last year’s biggest story in baseball was the way the Tampa Bay Rays’ turnaround was triggered by a record-setting improvement in their Defensive Efficiency. Of course, it certainly helped to have a stockpile of young talent, a shrewd GM and an innovative manager, but none of them would have likely gotten such …
For today’s installment of “Pair Up in Threes,” I examine a trio of American League contenders whose bullpens have been extraordinarily awful thus far, the Yankees, the Indians and the Angels. For each team, I ran down their stats and rankings in two key BP metrics, Reliever Expected Wins Added (WXRL) and Fair Run Average …
With the preseason Hit List and the final Fantasy Baseball Index Spring Update both raging out of control on my front burners, I don’t have time for a full writeup of last night’s trip to the new Yankee Stadium for the unofficial opening game against the Cubs. I will say that it feels as though …
In the end, after no shortage of drama, we got our Yankees tickets: Just moments before I embarked for the Baseball Prospectus 2009 Baltimore whistle stop earlier this week, I got a call from my friend Nick, the “commissioner” of our aggrieved group of Yankees partial-plan ticket holders. Two weeks after turning down the team’s …
Another one of my Baseball Prospectus pieces syndicated on ESPN Insider, this one on trying to quantify what the absences of Alex Rodriguez and other stars would cost their teams in terms of runs and wins: When the news on Alex Rodriguez’s hip injury broke last week, the Baseball Prospectus crew brainstormed a few possible …