Trent Thornton, today’s starting pitcher for Toronto, doesn’t present anything unusual for Major League batters or fans to look for or deal with.  He has a pretty good strikeout rate, but also a pretty high walk rate and a pretty high rate for home runs.  That doesn’t require any deep mathematical research and analysis to … Continue reading Trent Thornton and some fun

My Baseball Page’s 2019 All-Star Ballot: A little sooner than usual.  The relatively early game date combined with this silly early deadline for voting nonsense has forced my hand.  Again, as a general rule, I look at WAR  first, adjusted OPS second, then everything else.  When a decision is a toss-up, I go with who … Continue reading 2019 All-Star Ballot

Subtitle:  And what the Yankee lineup should be ongoing… Like what I did there?  Regression to the mean, “mean” as in not nice, regression…?  Never mind. So we always hear that there will be a regression to the mean when players greatly exceed their levels of past production.  And like most overused phrases, there is … Continue reading That’s A Mean Regression

Man, baseball broadcasters do love their silly stats. If you’ve followed me for any reasonable amount of time, you’ve heard all about my dislike for OPS.  OPS is the stat that the uninformed use to make themselves sound informed.  (Adjusted OPS, however - “OPS+” - is a great indicator of a player’s offensive performance, but … Continue reading Dumb statistic, #24:

Out of left field is an occasional post where there are some thoughts that don’t require 1,000 of analysis but must be shared. Yes, “must”.  In no particular order... Mookie Betts has been leading off for the Red Sox lately.  This is an incredibly bad move from a manager who’s had a pretty good year … Continue reading Out of left field, NYY/BOS edition