Diamond Data Dive
Walk years and outperforming projections
In theory, players have extra motivation to perform well in their final year before free agency. Does this extra motivation lead to better than expected results?
Legendary At-Bat: Miller v. Tulowitzki
In this edition of Legendary At-Bats, the 12-pitch battle between Andrew Miller and Troy Tulowitzki is broken down.
The Cubs are trying to buck history
As the Cubs continue to stay in the NL playoff race, how well have teams with so many young players performed in the past?
Cole Hamels's dominant no-hitter
No-hitters aren't always as impressive as the label makes them seem. Cole Hamels' performance against the Cubs on Saturday wasn't one of those cases.
Shortstop offense is at its worst since 1989
Shortstops as a whole have put up interesting offensive numbers this season in a bad way, but what exactly does that mean?
Come play two truths and a lie!
Do plate discipline statistics correlate with strikeout and walk percentages?
Baseball's best third basemen visualized
In this ongoing series reviewing players position by position, this post uses a Tableau data visualization to show the best (and worst) third basemen this year.
Baseball's best shortstops visualized
In the fourth of an ongoing series reviewing players by position, this post takes a closer look at this year's shortstops, using a Tableau data visualization to measure value and production.
Baseball's best catchers
This is the first in a series that will review players by position to see not only who is performing best, but who is delivering the most value.
Striking out with runners in scoring position
A strikeout is just another out, unless it happens with runners on base. Is there a difference in strikeout rate depending on if there are runners in scoring position?
Batted balls and source disagreement
Source disagreement for classifying batted balls exists, but it may not exist forever.
Win streaks and successful seasons
The Royals are off to a hot start and much has been made about their success. Here we use data from the last five seasons to determine, given a win streak of N-games, the odds of a team winning 85...
Five games in, the offense was missing
It's generally not a good idea to make grand pronouncements on a season only five games in, but let's have some fun and make them anyway.
Carlos Martinez's K% conversion
Carlos Martinez is becoming a starting pitcher after serving time in the 'pen. Will his K% go up as a result?
Which teams could use an opener?
The opposite of a closer is an opener. Which 2015 teams could benefit from using one?
Flattened seams, raised offense in NCAA baseball
The NCAA changed to a flat-seam baseball to increase home runs. What unintended consequences has the switch had?
The decline in OBP
Offense is declining in baseball, and it's beginning to affect on-base percentage as well.
A new kind of power closer
A very recent phenomenon is for relief pitchers to have more strikeouts than baserunners allowed. As if hitters didn't have enough problems already.
Draft do-over: 2008
What would teams look like today if we were to do the 2008 MLB draft over again with all the knowledge we have now?
Fantasy help from a saber perspective
Earn the right to name your team the SABR-Toothed Tigers* and win your fantasy league. Trademark: Neil Weinberg
The ramifications of playing fewer games
Players need to pile up a number of impressive seasons in order to reach commonly accepted career milestones. This is becoming more difficult to achieve as they play fewer games in a season.
Who's next for 3000 hits?
Certain numerical thresholds that are taken for granted are becoming more difficult to attain. Then again, they may never have been easily attained in the first place.
Jake Diekman's taking cues from Andrew Miller
How one pitcher's path to a breakout season has led Jake Diekman to take similar steps.
Visualizing Pitch Transitions
Pitch transition diagrams show how often one pitch type is followed by with another (e.g., a fastball by a slider). Diagrams for Clayton Kershaw and Yu Darvish show how they sequence their pitch...
Reaching for the sky by pop-up
The Toronto Blue Jays like to hit the ball in the air, both for home runs and easy outs.
PADE vs. individual defensive metrics
Let's take a look at Baseball Prospectus's PADE, and see if it can teach us anything new about defense.
