Morning Mound Visit: sabermetrics news - 7/4/19

FanGraphs | Tony Wolfe: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was struggling mightily, and now he has turned a weakness into a surprising strength: hitting the slider. That has caused his offense to soar, but it’s also cautionary; he may get fewer sliders in the future and it could come at the expense of hitting four-seamers, so he’ll likely need to adjust again.

Baseball Prospectus | Rob Mains ($): It comes as no surprise to the mathematically-inclined that one-run game performance is incredibly fluky, and does not correlate year-to-year. But what about from the first half to the second half? Likely the same. Even though the Yankees are good and have been the best at it this year, one would expect them to regress to their usual projected winning percentage in those situations.

ESPN Insider | Bradford Doolittle ($): The Twins have been one of, if not the, best teams in baseball, and it’s by acknowledging that there is no such thing as a “ceiling.” From unlocking the potential of youngsters like Byron Buxton and Max Kepler to older players like Jake Odorizzi and Kyle Gibson, as well as hiring the youngest manager in Rocco Baldelli, they’ve shown there’s no one correct route to building a winner, and it offers a path for any future rebuilding team to follow.