Morning Mound Visit: sabermetrics news - 10/18/19

FanGraphs | Jay Jaffe: The playoffs continue, as does the discussion around the ball. I’ve written about, as have a lot of people, but it was pretty apparent in Game Three of the ALCS, where a Didi Gregorius missed a potentially game-changing home run because of the change in the ball, as have a few balls that could have changed the balance throughout the playoffs.

Baseball Prospectus | Rob Arthur ($): Even more on the ball, now. Not only are balls travelling further, but it is changing the break on pitches as well. Now balls are breaking about four-tenths of an inch more than in the the regular season, which isn’t a game-changer, but it lends credence to the idea that this is a completely different batch of balls.

The Athletic | Eno Sarris ($): Back to another narrative that won’t die: Clayton Kershaw in the postseason. The cause of his problems, surprisingly, aren’t clear. His velocity has declined but he’s had problems throughout, and he has a similar amount of strikeouts and walks. He has relied on command more, but plenty of command-based pitchers are fine in the postseason. For eternity, it probably remains lure and mythos than scientific reason.