For the first time in a while, the Detroit Tigers entered the 2022 MLB season with expectations. After an abysmal 9-24 start to the 2021 MLB season, the Detroit Tigers saw a resurgence under first year manager A.J. Hinch and finished 68-61 to end the season with a much more respectable overall record of 77-85.... Continue Reading →
The Hot Start No One is Talking About
Much of the conversation surrounding the National League East entering the season was focused on the Braves, the Mets and the Phillies. While many were expecting those three teams to be competing for the division, the early parts of the season have been less suspenseful than many were expecting as the Mets have gotten off... Continue Reading →
Is This Finally the Angels Year?
Despite having a roster that has included some of the best and most recognizable players in baseball, the Los Angeles Angels of recent years have been stuck in mediocrity. The franchises "stars and scrubs" approach of roster construction has been unsuccessful as the team hasn't qualified for the postseason since 2014 and hasn't finished above... Continue Reading →
Seattle Mariners Offseason Review
The Seattle Mariners surprised many during the 2021 season, finishing with a 90-72 record and only 2 games out of the American League Wild Card. While the -51 run differential might cause some to question the legitimacy of last season's success, the organization made it clear they meant business moving forward by their activity this... Continue Reading →
Put The Goat in the Hall of Fame
On Tuesday, January 25th it was announced David Ortiz had been elected to The National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Ortiz was elected after receiving 77.9% of votes in his first year on the ballot. As someone who doesn't typically give much thought to the Hall of Fame, it... Continue Reading →
Shohei Ohtani’s Remarkable 2021 Season
While many were aware of Shohei Ohtani's two-way potential when he was posted by the Nippon-Ham Fighters back in the winter of 2017, few could have imagined it was possible for him to accomplish what he did during the 2021 season. It is certainly not unheard of for someone to enter pro-ball with two-way potential.... Continue Reading →
Thoughts on the Tigers Offseason
The initial weeks of Major League Baseball's offseason featured a flurry of activity as uncertainty surrounding the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement and a lockout loomed. Having been in a rebuild since the summer of 2017, there was significant progress made on the field during the 2021 season for the Detroit Tigers under first... Continue Reading →
The Strong Case for a A.L. Manager of the Year Candidate No One is Talking About
Image Credit Paul Sancya, AP All statistics through the completion of games on Sunday, September 26th 2021 As the 2021 regular season winds down, the debates about the end of season awards have started to heat up. One award that is handed out every offseason is the Manger of the Year Award. This award, given... Continue Reading →
Draft Profile: Will Bednar
Image courtesy of Mississippi State Athletics Introduction Will Bednar was selected by the San Francisco Giants with the 14th overall selection in the 2021 Major League Baseball Rule 4 Draft on Sunday, July 11th. Bednar, the brother of the Pittsburgh Pirates David Bednar, saw his draft stock rise significantly following his dominant performance during the... Continue Reading →
Plate Discipline and Hit Tools
As the Tigers focused on pitching during the early stages of the rebuild, it has started to make its presence felt at the Major League Level. The organization has now started shifting its focus to positional talent. While this has resulted in a lack of starting pitching talent in the farm system, there are now... Continue Reading →
Identifying Overlooked Position Players with K-Means Clustering
Baseball analytics have long been focused on helping teams gain a competitive advantage by finding players their competitors have overlooked for one reason or another. While this started by using very basic statistics such as on-base percentage, recent decades have seen the methods for doing this become increasingly advanced. Major League teams are now pouring... Continue Reading →
Why Pitchers Get Better Once They Leave Pittsburgh
While the Pirates franchise did have a relatively successful stretch during the mid-2010's by their standards, the teams motivation to cut payroll and stockpile prospect depth over recent years has led to the product on the field to suffer. Following a 93 loss 2019 season, the franchise finished the shortened 2020 season with the worst... Continue Reading →
Visualizing the Arsenal of Brent Honeywell Jr.
On Sunday April, 11th Brent Honeywell Jr. finally made his Major League Debut. While Honeywell has been well-known in baseball circles for a while, his status as a prospect has taken a significant hit over recent years due to a string of injuries. Before this season, Honeywell had been sidelined over 1,300 days since his... Continue Reading →
What Actually Contributes to BABIP?
In the field of statistics, we use the the law of large numbers to explain that as the sample size of something increases, the average of that sample will fall closer to the mean of the population as a whole. The proof of this law has existed since the publishing of the book Ars Conjectandi... Continue Reading →
Is Stealing Signs Necessary?
While baseball has always been a game of numbers, the increase in large datasets and the availability of these datasets over recent years has greatly facilitated the ability of both public analysts and teams to draw conclusions and insights into the game that they previously would not have been able to. As the data has... Continue Reading →