High & Inside: 4/19/11

Baseball links from around the sabersphere...

• Martin the Masher | The Yankee Analysts
  

  Let’s enjoy this hot streak while it lasts, but let’s not think this version of Martin is here to stay and it’s okay to trade Jesus Montero now.

• Ryan Vogelsong, Question Mark? | Bay City Ball
  

  As much as I’m pulling for Vogelsong to write an interesting final chapter to the story of his involvement with the Giants, It would really be better if Barry Zito recovered quickly, and found his missing 3 mph of fastball velocity while he’s at it.

• O's Offensive Woes | Camden Crazies
  

  Bringing Vlad Guerrero aboard with Derrek Lee and Mark Reynolds was probably a wash, plate discipline-wise, but only the Cubs are swinging the bat more often than the O's so far this year (and just barely).

• A Visual Look at wOBA | Fangraphs
  

  As you can see from the visual, wOBA puts more stress on walks, hit by pitches, and singles, while OPS attaches a huge value to homeruns and triples.

• Jesus Montero’s reverse split | River Avenue Blues
  

  If the reverse platoon split is a true talent (which is could very easily not be), well then he’s a hitter well suited for a league dominated by right-handed pitchers and a ballpark with a short porch in right.

More links after the jump...

• Brian Wilson Has a Filthy… Two Seamer | Notgraphs
  The filthiest pitch you will ever see.
• Charlie Morton is a Roy Halladay clone | Hardball Talk
  

  Pirates’ starter Charlie Morton has totally restructured his windup and delivery to be exactly like Roy Halladay‘s.

• Probable cause behind the Cardinals’ offensive turnaround | Fungoes
  

  Their batting average on balls in play explains a lot of the change in fortune. Over the first eight games, the Cardinals had a BABIP of .252. Over the last eight? .396.

• Collateral Damage | Baseball Prospectus
  Livan Hernandez has thrown nearly 3,000 innings without ever hitting the DL.
• Is Clutchness Correlated With Any Offensive Traits? | Athletics Nation
  

  [The] effect that these correlations may have are dwarfed by the effect of a slightly more talented hitter, clutch or not.