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John Dewan's Stat of the Week
Cannon Arms in 2014
June 10, 2014 Last season, two players separated themselves from the field with their excellent outfield arms. Gerardo Parra saved the Diamondbacks 12 runs with his arm, part of his combined 41 Defensive Runs Saved season across all three outfield positions. That tied him with Andrelton Simmons for the most in [...]
The Most Improved Defensive Teams
June 06, 2014 The Cardinals were an exceptional team last season. They finished tied with their eventual World Series opponent Red Sox for the most wins in baseball (97). They were fifth in baseball with a 3.42 team ERA and third with a .332 on-base percentage. However, that excellence did [...]
How Many More No-Hitters This Year?
May 29, 2014 Last Sunday, Josh Beckett submitted the first no-hitter of the 2014 season as the Dodgers beat the Phillies 6-0. Beckett has had a difficult transition back to the National League. Last season, he had an ERA over 5.00 in eight starts and missed the rest of the season [...]
Rookie of the Year – Tanaka or Abreu?
May 16, 2014 The two major pre-season candidates to win the American League Rookie of the Year award have certainly not disappointed a month and a half into the 2014 season. Then again, Jose Abreu and Masahiro Tanaka are not your typical rookies. Abreu is a 10-year veteran of professional [...]
Can the National League Reverse a 10-Year Trend?
May 09, 2014 A look at the World Series winners over the last decade would suggest the National League has been the better of the two leagues. Since 2003, the NL holds a 6-5 edge over the American League in those critical matchups. However, even seven game series provide too small [...]
Who Are the Best and Worst Defensive Teams So Far?
April 25, 2014 It is too early in the season to draw definitive conclusions about teams in any respect. Twenty or so games have the Red Sox in last place in the AL East and the Brewers in first place in the NL Central. Perhaps those results will hold true for [...]
Shifts Still on the Rise
April 18, 2014 Last year at this time, we showed how the early defensive shift leaders were well ahead of the pace they set the year before (Shifting Into High Gear, April 18, 2013). The same thing is happening again this year. Baseball Info Solutions began tracking shifts comprehensively in 2010, and the last two seasons, [...]
Can the First 10 Games Predict Playoff Chances?
April 11, 2014 Over the course of a full season, the worst teams in baseball typically put together a winning streak or two. And even the best teams go through some slumps. It might surprise you, then, that over the last 10 seasons, the record of teams in their first 10 [...]
Who Will Be The 2014 Statistical Leaders?
March 31, 2014 Every offseason, I like to highlight the projected Defensive Runs Saved leaders based on Baseball Info Solutions’ defensive projections. Here is that Stat of the Week from a couple of weeks ago. This year, I thought it would be fun to also give a little attention to hitters [...]
Can Spring Training Statistics Predict Breakout Power Seasons?
March 25, 2014 Over the last 10 or so seasons, this has been the time of the year when we’ve listed a group of players we expect to see a power breakout in the upcoming regular season. That list is based on a study of players from 1996-2001 that saw players who [...]