Sabersphere 2/19: Mat Gamel, Tony Campana, White Sox and PECOTA

Morning, folks. Mat Gamel continued his unlucky career with a season-ending injury, Gritty Player Tony Campana was traded to the Diamondbacks, and a national journalist wrote a defensive article about the White Sox. We'll talk about these topics and more in today's edition of Sabersphere.

Previously on Beyond the Box Score

Alex Kienholz take an in-depth look at the promising young pitcher for the A's: A PitchF/X Look at Jarrod Parker | Beyond the Box Score

As a 23 year old Parker was one of the best rookie pitchers in baseball, but what pitches were key to his success?

James Gentile analyzes the change-up, especially the change-up when it is thrown in the upper half of the plate: The Dangers of the Hanging Change-up | Beyond the Box Score

An off-speed pitch with significantly less movement than a curveball hanging waist high seems like a nightmare scenario for the pitcher on the mound.

A man who, based on his quality of writing and handsome picture, is probably going to be famous one day, reveals that Tony Campana, who was recently traded to the Diamonbacks from the Cubs, had a "historic" season in 2012: Tony Campana and Striking Out with No Power | Beyond the Box Score

Campana is about as gritty as it gets. He steals bases, plays good defense, and doesn't really do anything else.

Around the Sabersphere

Dave Cameron responds to a ridiculous accusation that Nate Silver is a Cubs fan. If you're going to call someone that, you better be right, because that's a horrible thing to say about someone (kidding!). More importantly, Dave wonders why the White Sox always seem to beat PECOTA: The White Sox and Beating Projections | FanGraphs Baseball

The White Sox pitchers have continually spent a fraction of the time on the DL that any forecasting system would have projected, and so the team’s innings have been reallocated from replacement level scrubs to the team’s highest quality arms.

Kyle Boddy presents a really fascinating scouting report for UCLA junior Adam Plutko, comparing him to UCLA alum Trevor Bauer: Scouting Adam Plutko, UCLA ‘14 | The Hardball Times

Adam Plutko is a right-handed pitcher for the UCLA Bruins, not having signed after being picked in the sixth round by the Houston Astros in 2010.

Mat Gamel is an unlucky dude. But I didn't realize just how unlucky and depressing his career has been until I read Grant Brisbee's article: Mat Gamel injured, out for 2013, and perpetually unlucky | Baseball Nation

It's easy to forget just how much it must suck to be an injured baseball player. There's one player, though, whose injuries are almost impossible to minimize from a human-interest standpoint.

If you would like to submit something for a future edition of Sabersphere, email Sabersphere@gmail.com.