Morning Mound Visit: sabermetrics news - 9/18/19

FanGraphs | Devan Fink: Funnily enough, the pitcher traded in July with the most WAR since then hasn’t been Zack Greinke, but Kolby Allard, flipped to the Rangers from the Braves. Allard has a now-faster fastball with new mechanics, as well as a curve in the 0th percentile in spin, so while he may not have ace stuff, the Rangers find an incredibly valuable starter for almost nothing in return.

Baseball Prospectus | Matthew Trueblood ($): People are buzzing about the MVP, as usual, and DRC+ and WARP weigh on with their own opinions on the award. They involve our friends Mike Trout and Cody Bellinger atop their respective leaderboards, so it’s likely in agreement with many of us.

ESPN Insider | Bradford Doolittle ($): The Nationals have been slumping big-time, but that probably doesn’t spell doom for their postseason run: FanGraphs’ odds put them at 94.6%, and the combined powers for Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer, and Juan Soto should get them over the top.