High & Inside: 3/31/11

Baseball links from around the sabersphere...

• ERA-, FIP-, xFIP- | Fangraphs
  Fangraphs unveils its newest feature.
• ML Splits
  A new Minor league Splits is up!
• An Interview With UZR | Joe Posnanski
  Poz has an interview with...UZR.
• Is Ryan Madson a Bad Closer? | The Platoon Advantage
  

  The point, instead, is to point out that if you're writing off Madson as a great relief pitcher but a bad closer, that's all you've got to base it on. Other than those three bad innings, spread over two years, he's been about as good in the role as you could fairly expect anyone to be.

• Post-Hype Analysis: Matt Wieters | Minor League Ball
  

  If the historical precedents mean anything, there's still a chance that Wieters will live up to the offensive potential he showed in the minors (the Sweeney outcome), but it is not the most likely outcome.

More links after the jump...

• Jered Weaver's Big Slider | Baseball Analytics Blog
  

  Weaver's slider had more horizontal movement than any other right-handed major league slider last season. It averaged 9.4 feet per second of right to left movement when crossing the plate, more than a half a foot of movement more than the next slider on the list.

• Franchises with the most pitchers with 120 ERA+ (minimum 1000 IP) | Baseball Reference Blog
  The Boston Red Sox top the list with 13.
• Career Profile: Torii Hunter | Minor League Ball
  

  This is an example of a tools player who figured out what he was doing, though his development was not exactly linear.

• The 32 Best Players in Baseball for 2011 | Joe Posnanski
  A few big surprises on this list.
• Net Gains from the 2006 Draft | Bullpen Banter
  The Tampa Bay Rays come in at #1, thanks to Evan Longoria.