Morning Mound Visit: sabermetrics news - 7/23/19

FanGraphs | Craig Edwards: When talking about the changes in the trends in the game, one can’t overlook age, especially in offense, where position player value has continued to trend younger. Not even 5% of WAR in 2019 can be attributed to players 34 older. The only odd things is, ironically, older pitchers have become valuable as hitters got better.

Baseball Prospectus | Matthew Trueblood ($): Todd Frazier could be a potential trade piece next week, and he’s part of the rare breed of those who exclusively look for fastballs. He’s gotten better in treating it like a “chess match” and learning to expect a curve, fastballs will still be where he hits his home runs.

The Ringer | Michael Baumann: Lost in the noise of draft disappointment, Stephen Strasburg is casually one of the best starters in baseball this year. Even though he has yet to accumulate the innings totals we would expect from an ace, a new emphasis on breaking balls like much of the league means he’ll at least, on a rate basis, be one of the elite starters.