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John Dewan's Stat of the Week
Stat of the Week: Shifting is at an all-time high
Something monumental happened in baseball this past weekend—and it wasn’t the Orioles being given a nationally televised game. By the end of play on Sunday, teams had shifted on balls in play 28,249 times, surpassing the previous record of 28,130 set in 2016. They are now on pace to shift just under 35,000 times this season, [...]
Stat of the Week: Catcher-Framing and Winning In Sync
By MARK SIMON Notice a pattern in the team leaderboard for Strike Zone Runs Saved this season? [...]
Stat of the Week: NL Total Runs/MVP Race is Tight
The National League MVP race is shaping up to be incredibly tight with a little more than a month left in the regular season, and it parallels the race for the lead in the Total Runs stat.Total Runs combines Runs Created (offense), Baserunning Runs and Defensive Runs Saved, along with a positional adjustment (but not [...]
Stat of the Week: The Diamondbacks' Amazing Defense
Though we shone a spotlight on the Milwaukee Brewers’ defense last week, we neglected to mention a team that was just a notch behind them. That team has since surpassed the Brewers statistically and currently has no equals on the defensive front—the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks have 108 Defensive Runs Saved this season. If that total holds, [...]
Who was July's best defensive player?
The Brewers are dominating defensively and their outfielders are dominating our Defensive Player of the Month award.We’re picking a Brewers outfielder again, giving Keon Broxton top honors for July. Among those Broxton edged out was his teammate, Lorenzo Cain, who won the award in May. Broxton’s offense did not match his defense though and he [...]
Who are MLB's top rookies in 2018?
By Mark Simon Let’s interrupt your focus on the MLB Trade Deadline to take a look at some players who probably aren’t going anywhere – the top rookies in the majors in 2018. Using our Total Runs stat, which combines Runs Created, Defensive Runs Saved and Pitching Runs, along with an adjustment for position and playing time, [...]
Stat of the Week: MLB All-Star Voting vs. Total Runs Leaders
By MARK SIMONWho were the players most deserving of being All-Star starters in 2018?Let’s use Total Runs to put together a pair of teams based on numbers.Total Runs is a statistic created by Baseball Info Solutions that combines offense, defense, baserunning, and an adjustment that allows for comparison across positions into one number in order [...]
Who were June's best defensive players?
The race for Defensive Player of the Month was a tight battle and, in the end, a pair of players tied for the top spot in our voting. So let’s salute Washington Nationals shortstop Trea Turner and Kansas City Royals left [...]
Baseball's Biggest Defensive Improvers
Much has been made about Mike Trout’s improved defense this year. After costing the Angels six runs in center field last season, he’s already saved them seven runs in 2018. That 13-run turnaround is tied for the fourth-largest improvement among players who played at least 500 innings at the same position in both seasons. It’s not [...]
Evaluating the Phillies' Infield Shifts
Jake Arrieta's recent comments called attention to the Philadelphia Phillies’ infield shifts. The veteran right-hander complained that his team is "the worst in the league with shifts," and by our Shift Runs Saved metric at Sports Info Solutions, he is indeed correct. The Phillies rank last in Major League Baseball in Shift Runs Saved, costing [...]