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John Dewan's Stat of the Week
What We've Noticed On Defense In The Opening Week
BY MARK SIMONIt’s too early to draw conclusions from much of anything in small-sample-size land these days. So rather than write a highly-detailed analysis and extrapolation of anything, we’ll just point out some of the things we’ve noticed defensively from the first week of the season.* White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. has looked [...]
NL Team Defensive Previews
BY MARK SIMONContinuing what we started last week with the AL, we’ve got a stat-driven defensive theme or story to watch for each NL team. Play ball!Braves – We’re curious to see what Michael Harris II’s defensive ceiling is. Harris has already won a Minor League Gold Glove and at times showed the potential to [...]
2023 Defensive Preview: American League
BY MARK SIMONWith Opening Day approaching, we wanted to preview the 2023 season from a defensive perspective. So to be fair to all 30 teams, we’ve got a stat-driven theme or story to watch for each team. We’ll do the AL teams this week, the NL next week.Angels – The Angels have a good defensive [...]
A Defensive Look For Team USA
You might have noticed that over the last couple of years we’ve transitioned our thinking on Stat of the Week to make it largely based around defensive excellence.We consider that our beat here. Some people cover teams. We cover a way to play. As such, we think of things with defensive excellence first in mind.That [...]
Baseball's Rising Defensive Stars
This is the time of year when baseball fans get excited about everyone.Understandably so. Watch a few games and it's easy to feel good about players, often rising stars or prospects. And usually you’re watching home runs because they make for good highlights, so you tend to think about them as hitters. But who are [...]
Defensive Support For Pitchers
We can calculate how many Defensive Runs Saved a team recorded for a pitcher on batted balls. Think of it as similar to a team’s defensive efficiency behind a pitcher, but with a run value instead of a percentage. Here’s a list of the pitchers who received the most Defensive Runs Saved in that regard in [...]
Brotherly Love
Spring Training is coming and we’ll have lots of baseball stat takes, but we’re taking a week to point out the coolest stat of Super Bowl LVII.On Sunday, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Eagles center Jason Kelce will be the first brothers whose teams will face each other in a Super Bowl.Though they won’t [...]
Celebrating Pitchers and Catcher Defensive Excellence
By MARK SIMONPitchers and catchers report to their MLB teams this week. To celebrate as we get ready for baseball, here are nine pitcher and catcher-related stats celebrating their defensive play.1) The catcher leader in Defensive Runs Saved last season was Jose Trevino of the Yankees with 21. Adley Rutschman of the Orioles and Cal [...]
Zack Greinke's Defense
Let’s hear it for pitcher defense!This is a topic we don’t get to touch on much but it’s pertinent this week with Zack Greinke re-signing with the Royals.Why? Because this is the Defensive Runs Saved leaderboard for pitchers. SIS began tracking the stat in 2003.Greinke is tied for the lead with Mark Buehrle, though there’s [...]
The 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot
The neverending debate that is Baseball Hall of Fame worthiness can move ahead to 2024 after the elections of Scott Rolen and Fred McGriff to 2023’s Hall class. Next year’s BBWAA ballot includes not just prominent holdovers like Todd Helton, Billy Wagner, and Carlos Beltran, but also three newcomers who surpass the standard set by Bill [...]