Loading... Please wait...
John Dewan's Stat of the Week
Great Defensive Players Who Are Hall-Caliber
Scott Rolen’s enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame this weekend is good by us given that defense played such a large part in defining who Rolen was as a player and how frequently we write about defense here.But there are plenty of excellent defensive players with resumes worthy of Hall of Fame election who [...]
June's Defensive Player of the Month: Blake Perkins
The Brewers rank 4th in MLB in Defensive Runs Saved and a large part of their success this season has come from their rookies.Joey Wiemer and Brice Turang have each impressed this season. Last month, a third player joined them, our selection for the SIS/Fielding Bible Awards Defensive Player of the Month for June, corner [...]
Doug Eddings and Bill Miller Call A Lot Of Strikes
Sports Info Solutions has tracked umpire data back to the 2010 season.We track many things, including tendencies. How often is a pitch thrown to a certain area called a strike and how does that compare to other umpires?SIS divides credit for called strikes among the catcher, umpire, pitcher, and batter through a process that you [...]
Patrick Bailey Is A Defensive Difference-Maker
With all due respect to Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno and Mets catcher Francisco Álvarez, the best defensive catcher in a promising group of rookie catchers may be Patrick Bailey of the Giants.Bailey ranks tied for 2nd among catchers with 7 Defensive Runs Saved, one behind Moreno, despite playing in only 26 games this season. His [...]
Negative Nolan: What's Going On With Arenado's Runs Saved?
What Nolan Arenado did at third base from 2013 to 2022 was extraordinary. If it were easy to average 15 Defensive Runs a season at the hot corner, lots of players would do it. But Arenado stands alone with his skill and has the hardware in Gold Gloves (10) and Fielding Bible Awards (5) to [...]
What's Up With All The Home Run Robberies?
We normally bring up home run robberies at the beginning of the season and then again in The Bill James Handbook. But we have reason to bring them up again two months into 2023. Our company has been tracking home run robberies in detail since 2004. We take this seriously. Our Video Scouts discuss and [...]
Pitcher Injuries On Comebackers On The Rise
Pitcher injuries are always a frequent topic and 2023 is no different with Robbie Ray, Germán Márquez, and Drew Rasmussen all out with significant elbow injuries. Ray and Marquez will miss the season after Tommy John surgery. Rasmussen is out for multiple months with a strained tendon in his elbow. But there’s a different type of [...]
Which Teams Are Best At Supporting Their Pitchers Defensively?
In the fifth inning of Eduardo Rodriguez’s start against the Guardians on April 18, Josh Naylor hit a bolt to right field that looked like it was going to be a go-ahead home run. But Matt Vierling raced back, leapt, reached over the wall as he banged into the fence, and made the catch.Rodriguez ended [...]
Nick Gordon and Starling Marte Perhaps Deserving of a Better Fate
BY MARK SIMONLet me call your attention to two hitters whose numbers currently don’t match their track records and explain something that’s going on for each of them.Twins utility man Nick Gordon is 6-for-52 to start the 2023 season. In his first two years in the majors, Gordon hit .261 with a .711 OPS, the [...]
Brewers Living Up To Their Reputation
When we wrote our NL defense preview a few weeks ago, we referenced Brewers manager Craig Counsell’s and his high expectations for Brewers rookie second baseman Brice Turang.Turang has lived up to the billing so far – just check out the nice plays he made against Jared Kelenic on Wednesday (click here and here) and his relay throw to nail [...]