Morning Mound Visit: sabermetrics news - 8/23/18

FanGraphs | Jeff Sullivan: So Daniel Murphy went to the Cubs through waivers, which means the... Rockies (!) let him pass through waivers. Why that is, we can’t explain, because he would have been a perfect fit for a team that is fighting for a playoff spot, and possibly the entire division.

Baseball Prospectus | Rob Mains ($): It’s an era of more home runs, so it makes sense that we’re in an era where there are more games where either team or both teams score runs solely through solo home runs. The trend is down this year, so it’s possible it could reverse, but you can’t deny that the home run rate has shot up significantly over the last century.

The Athletic | Kate Preusser ($): The Mariners held a Women in Baseball Night which, while marginally better for women in sport than most franchises can say for themselves, was still in of itself problematic when CEO Kevin Mather, accused in a recent sexual harassment scandal, occupied the back of the room. The failure to address his alleged behavior, and the lack of any of the women at said night even employed at the executive level, means that this Night has a ways to go before living up to its true potential and very positive intentions.

MLB.com | Mike Petriello: This year in baseball has been of dynamic duos, which Petriello spells out: José Ramírez and Francisco Lindor; Mookie Betts and JD Martinez; Mike Trout and Andrelton Simmons; and Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, to name a few.