Morning Mound Visit: Sabermetrics News - 5/22/18

FanGraphs | Craig Edwards: And the xwOBA debate makes its way to FanGraphs. Edwards’ assertion is that, basically, the interpretation of the metric is at the core of its misuse. Even though it holds very little predictive power, it still describes, descriptively, “unlucky” hitters in the present sense. I don’t necessarily agree with that just because “unlucky” implies a stabilization to a point which, by its definition, can’t accurately be predicted, but duly noted. The debate will rage on, and the usage of xwOBA and other xSTATS will find a niche as the studies continue.

The Hardball Times | Stephanie Springer: Springer takes a deep dive into the uses and chemistry of furosemide, the drug taken by Robinson Cano that led to his PED-related suspension.

Tangotiger Blog | Tom Tango: It’s possible to measure velocity with frames-per-second, so no radar guns needed if you have the video.

Bill James Online | Bill James: “Who is a superstar” is finally put to the test, and James maps out who he believes the games superstars were at each point in baseball history. It’s an interesting study, as James is best when he uses his anecdotally-based stats along with history, but I’m personally not too enthralled by the notion of Jose Altuve and Mike Trout being the only superstars in the sport.