High & Inside: 5/5/11

Baseball links around the sabersphere...

• Prospectus Q and A: Matt Capps | Baseball Prospectus
  An interview with Matt Capps.
• Is Ichiro Really A Free Swinger? | Baseball Analytics Blog
  

  When most players swing out of the zone, they trade balls for outs. Ichiro trades them for hits.

• What’s Wrong With Ryan Dempster? | Fangraphs
  Ryan Dempster's ERA doesn't look so good this year, but his xFIP indicates underlying success.
• Top 20 Fantasy Prospects for 2011 Update | Roto Hardball
  Jeremy Hellickson is still number one.
• Making sense of the Posada Conundrum | Pinstripe Alley
  

  Jorge Posada, on the other hand, has followed a trajectory that many people — experts and fans alike — predicted. Even after an encouraging four hits in the opening two games in Detroit, Posada is a .167 hitter. Six April homers have only somewhat obscured the fact that he's been overmatched in too many at-bats this season.

More links after the jump...

• Liriano’s no-hitter one of worst in history | Fungoes
  Liriano's K/BB ratio of 0.33 in his no-hitter was the third-worst in history.
• The Unlucky Offense | River Avenue Blues
  

  Right now the Yankees have a .321 xBABIP, 49 points higher than the actual number. They’ve managed to lose 43 hits somewhere along the way, and if we assume all 43 are singles, their team wOBA would jump from .355 to .392.

• The Best Ace So Far? A Look at mERA | The Good Phight
  

  Although Halladay still has a remarkable advantage over the others in FIP, Hamels and Oswalt join Halladay in having mERAs under 2.

• Do MLB Pitchers Really Suffer Post-Playoff Hangovers? | Wahoo Blues
  Most rotations' post-playoff hangovers can simply be attributed to natural regression.
• The all-time all-young team | ESPN SweetSpot Blog
  I'm still in awe at what Alex Rodriguez and Dwight Gooden managed to do at the age of 20.