Morning Mound Visit: sabermetrics news - 7/11/19

FanGraphs | Ben Clemens: Adam Ottavino is having yet another stellar season, and the key to it is deception and called strikes, in fact. When he has a fastball and slider that look the same out of the hand, he can get them chasing, get them looking at a fastball in the heart of the zone, or even a slider that hits the black.

Baseball Prospectus | Rob Mains ($): The Yankees had a great June, but they also had bad performances out of their starters. Does that mean starting pitching matters less in an era of great bullpens? Maybe by a little bit, but the data still suggests the truism that if your starters are bad, your team should generally follow.

The Ringer | Ben Lindbergh: This is the age of the breakout. With the average player getting younger and turnover for great players getting higher (and you throw in the Juiced Ball), the result are players that basically come out of nowhere to be elite. Pete Alonso, Josh Bell, Max Muncy, Jeff McNeil, and others can thank those factors, as well as more advanced player development, in their rise to stardom.