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Why is Josh Collmenter so good? I’m not saying that because he was the starter on Opening Day, and I’m obviously not saying that because of his 5.24 ERA this season as a starter. The man still pitched a near-full-season’s worth of relief innings (52.1), and once again, the results were spectacular: a 1.89 ERA.
What Collmenter has been able …
Continue Reading →Want to flummox one of baseball’s best offenses? Try pitching low and away. It seems obvious, and it’s probably true of most teams, to some degree. But only three teams struck out at a higher rate on those pitches than did the D-backs — a 19.4% K rate is not very good. They’ve also avoided doing big time damage in …
Continue Reading →In the first year of collecting exit velocities, we’ve uncovered a few truths. The first and most important, although also the most obvious, is that the old adage of “hit the ball hard and good things will happen” is consistent with the data that’s been recorded. When the ball is blasted to virtually any field, the odds of a good …
Continue Reading →This bizarre game that we love offers a good chance to use statistics because so much happens. Hundreds of plays in the field for most starters, hundreds of trips to the plate. Random things still can and do happen, along with things we can’t or don’t measure as we look at those events. Even more common than events on the …
Continue Reading →Nick Ahmed led off for the Diamondbacks last night. That was a surprise, but given what he’s done against lefties (at times) this year, it wasn’t a total shock. Chris Owings hit second and that was surprise, too. Considering that Owings has managed to be worse against lefties than righties in 2015, showing a neat little reverse platoon split, that …
Continue Reading →671 runs scored through last night puts the D-backs 6th in the majors, but second in the National League (1 run behind the Nationals). With Paul Goldschmidt right at the standard he set for himself at 2013, A.J. Pollock bettering his 2014 performance, and David Peralta in full breakout mode, all it’s taken is solid or better performances from most …
Continue Reading →There’s some funny stuff going on in baseball. That’s more or less always the case, especially in September, but it’s probably worth pointing out nonetheless. The Minnesota Twins might make the playoffs. They weren’t supposed to be good at all but somehow have been. They’re 26th in fWAR for position players and 16th in fWAR for pitchers. They were projected …
Continue Reading →Once upon a time, the Diamondbacks were a relevant baseball team. If it seems like that was a long time ago, it’s because it kind of was. If it seems like that wasn’t a long time ago, it’s because it kind of wasn’t. I don’t really know what that means – it was a middle amount of time ago? The …
Continue Reading →The D-backs staff’s ground ball percentage has tailed off a bit from where it was earlier this season, but it’s still up there — 46.1%, ranked 12th — and that’s still some kind of small shock, considering it entered the season with a staff of fly ball pitchers. A huge part of that is the relentlessness with which they’ve pitched …
Continue Reading →When Yasmany Tomas was signed last winter, I certainly did my best to describe the asset the Diamondbacks had just purchased. But that was a difficult task. Tomas hailed from Cuba and there wasn’t a lot to go on. We had a few scouting reports from international sources, but little video, and even the reports were based on limited viewings. …
Continue Reading →Coming into this season, Rubby De La Rosa was heavily reliant on his four-seam fastball, adding a few sinkers in 2014 but really only using a slider and a change to break up the fastball monotony. Both of those secondary pitches tend to be the kind that you can only get away with throwing about 20% of the time, …
Continue Reading →Brad Ziegler is a unique pitcher. You don’t have to see him throw more than two pitches to understand that. His mechanics, his motion, his repertoire, how his pitches move – all of these fall well outside the norm. As a reliever, he’s particularly unique in that he doesn’t generate a lot of strikeouts in an era where strikeouts have …
Continue Reading →Ups and downs are part of the game of baseball. Whether you want to admit it or not, it’s this series of changes that helps make baseball so compelling. Without the ebbs and flows, the waxing and the waning, the ever-changing currents, the game would be far too static. This a lot easier to admit when you’re working with that …
Continue Reading →Things haven’t gone so well for Robbie Ray lately. In his last five starts, Ray sports a 7.03 ERA, backed by an ugly 5.22 FIP. Walks have been Ray’s main issue; he’s averaged three per start over that same stretch, good for a 5.55 BB/9 that would make Allen Webster blush. That 5.55 BB/9 is the exact rate that we …
Continue Reading →Hey, here’s something fun! Well, it’s fun to me, maybe it’s not fun for you. How should I know what you think is fun? That first sentence is all kinds of presumptive but, really, I just don’t care. I’m betting that you think this is fun. Luckily, I’m not betting very much. But anyways, here’s the challenge:
Tell me what …
Continue Reading →Last week in setting a benchmark for wins needed from the rotation, I used a placeholder for wins we could expect from the bullpen: about 2.5 above replacement. It was intended to be conservative, but if this season is any guide, the bullpen could be quite a lot better than catch-all statistics like Wins Above Replacement would indicate. As …
Continue Reading →@ryanpmorrison
Congrats to @OutfieldGrass24 on a beautiful life, wedding and wife. He deserves all of it (they both do). And I cou… https://t.co/JzJtQ7TgdJ, - Best part of Peralta’s 108 mph fliner over the fence, IMHO: that he got that much leverage despite scooping it out… https://t.co/ivBrl76adF,
RT @OutfieldGrass24: If you're bored of watching Patrick Corbin get dudes out, you can check out my latest for @TheAthleticAZ. https://t.co/k1DymgY7zO, - Of course, they may have overtaken the league lead for outs on the bases just now, also...
But in 2017, Arizona ha… https://t.co/38MBrr2D4b,
- Prior to the games today, there had only been 5 steals of 3rd this season (and no CS) in the National League. The… https://t.co/gVVL84vPQ5,
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RT @DefectorMedia: MLB owners have a lot of power to influence the public’s perception of the CBA proceedings, and they’re willing to… https://t.co/SMs2XAFAtF, - Old friend alert https://t.co/DeFNp8fCM8,
- TFW your 114-year old pipes leak under your house right before you try and move 🤦🏻♂️,
- Starting 2022 with a frigid dog walk sounds just lovely https://t.co/xoLZSZBpGp,
- I’ll never forget seeing Kyle Seager at the Scottsdale Fashion Square one March with his family and thinking “damn,… https://t.co/uapNYdsU2a,
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