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FanGraphs | Jay Jaffe: It took a long while for Aaron Hicks to get his game going, but that he did, and now he is cashing, inking a seven-year, $70 million extension with the Yankees. That’s a pretty large payout for a late bloomer, but with ZiPS projecting about 14 wins across his deal, it should be well worth it from a total money and AAV perspective.
Tangotiger Blog | Tom Tango: Here’s an interesting idea: Active Spin Percentage, or the percentage of a pitch’s spin that contributes to movement, whereby 100% would mean 100% of the spin is topspin or backspin. Unsurprisingly, good pitchers do this. Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and Trevor Bauer all have pitches that are nearly 100% Active Spin, while other pitchers’ pitches are harder to parse.
The Athletic | Eno Sarris ($): To determine who could be a breakout in 2019, Sarris looks at hitters who improved on their K-BB% as well as their fly ball rate. Those qualifiers included Brandon Nimmo, Ryon Healy, Dansby Swanson, and Yoán Moncada, to name a few.