Ever wonder how to evaluate a Major League fastball? In this post we’ll look at the process of evaluating to types of fastballs: a fourseam and a sinker. We are only focused on the Major League level for now, as we would focus on different aspects of evaluating the pitch if we were looking at…
In this post, we’re going to walk through how to evaluate a hitter’s plate discipline based on stats and in-person/broadcast looks. If you prefer video walkthroughs, check out this video: What is Plate Discipline? Plate Discipline describes the decision-making process at the plate. It evaluates a hitter’s ability to swing at pitches that he can…
Some big changes coming to baseball this year! Make sure you are familiar with them before Opening Day on Thursday. There are three major rules changes this season including: Here is a video walkthrough of how the rules work and what to expect: If you’d like additional information, here are two guides on MLB’s website…
There are so many ways to develop a starting line-up. Some are more traditional than others, but The Book by Tom Tango, Michael Lichtman, and Andrew Dolphin discuss an approach based on research and developing models based on run values for various in-game events. There is a chapter of The Book that discusses batting orders,…
Spin Rate Spin rate describes how quickly a baseball rotates about an axis after it’s released. For example, the ball below has backspin and is rotating around the blue line. The spin rate would tell us how many revolutions the ball has around the line per minute. Spin Efficiency Spin efficiency is also important to…
A player on the 40-man roster has three Minor League Options. When a player is optioned, it means he is taken off the team’s 26-man roster and sent to the Minor Leagues without going through waivers. The player remains on the team’s 40-man roster. Only one option is used per season, it does not matter…
Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) is a stat that is used to evaluate pitching performance, similar to ERA. Unlike ERA, however, FIP attempts to isolate pitching performance from field performance/defense. Sometimes FIP can very different from ERA for a pitcher, which can be very telling. So let’s dive in and learn more about what FIP is,…
Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) is a defensive statistic that measures fielding ability. It attempts to calculate how many runs a defender saved or lost for his team. The value is represented in relation to the positional average, meaning the average UZR differs based on position. For example, the UZR for a leftfielder is different than…
Outs Above Average (OAA) is a defensive statistic that measures fielding skill. It represents the amount of outs a player has saved. It’s calculated by assigning values to plays based on their difficulty, and then adding the values of each play for a season-long cumulative number. OAA is becoming a more popular (and easy to…
What is Arbitration? Arbitration is a process in which a player and his team will negotiate and try to settle on a salary. If an agreement cannot be met, the two parties will go to an arbitration hearing with a third party moderator who will determine the player’s salary. When are Players Eligible? Players are…