John Dewan's Stat of the Week

Marcus Semien's Sensational Season

By MARK SIMONThe Blue Jays have muscled their way back into the AL Wild Card race, and though it’s easy to say that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has led the charge, the all-around excellence of Marcus Semien has also been a huge factor.If not for Shohei Ohtani, Semien would be leading the majors in our player [...]

MLB Defensive Player of the Month for August

By MARK SIMON The Cardinals had a 3.30 ERA in August, 4th-lowest in MLB. They also averaged 7.5 strikeouts per 9 innings in August, the 4th-fewest of any team. The contrast there can at least partly be explained by the Cardinals’ standout defense. After a strong month, they rank 5th overall in Defensive Runs Saved with 55, [...]

The Baserunning Ways of the Rays

By MARK SIMONIn June we published a look at the leaders in the baserunning stat, Net Gain. The Padres were way ahead of the field and didn’t look like they would be caught.Much like the standings have shifted against San Diego’s playoff hopes, so too has the Net Gain leaderboard. And the new team on [...]

A Giant(s)Step Forward

By MARK SIMONHeading into the 2021 season, the Giants were an afterthought in the NL West given how the Dodgers and Padres were expected to be among the best teams in MLB.But on this day, it’s the Giants who have the top record in baseball. They’ve been arguably the sport’s biggest surprise this season.The Giants have done this [...]

Zack Wheeler's 2021 Success

By MARK SIMONWith the Phillies having overtaken the Mets for first place in the NL East, there has been a recent clamor pushing Bryce Harper as a potential MVP candidate.But, at least by our calculations, there’s someone else on the Phillies who has been considerably more valuable than Harper has been.We’re referring to Zack Wheeler, who shut out [...]

MLB Defensive Player of the Month for July

By MARK SIMONOn April 28, I received an inquiry from a fellow baseball writer regarding Joey Gallo’s Defensive Runs Saved total, which stood at -4 for the season. He wanted to know what to make of that given that Gallo had led right fielders in Defensive Runs Saved in the shortened 2020 season.One of the [...]

Joey Gallo's Value

By MARK SIMON New Yankees outfielder Joey Gallo is having a highly unusual season. [...]

Stat of the Week: MLB Trade Market is Rich in Shortstops

By MARK SIMON The July 30 MLB trade deadline is gradually approaching and, as usual, there are plenty of notable names on the market. In particular, the shortstop market is plentiful, and with defense being our company’s specialty, it’s worth pointing out that this is a defense-rich shortstop market. The top two shortstops in Defensive Runs Saved since [...]