We sometimes receive requests for the average Relative Zone Ratings per position. We hope to eventually have those available on a daily basis, but here are the averages through yesterday’s games in the meantime: POS BIZ Plays RZR OOZ 1B 4,023 3,027 .752 885 2B 8,080 6,624 .820 686 3B 6,669 4,656 .698 1,055 SS […]

Quick quiz: Who leads the major leagues in innings pitched and xFIP? Roy Halladay is incredible.

Alan Nathan is a professor of physics at the University of Illinois. His greatest contributions to society, however, are his studies of the physics of baseball, especially his work with the PITCHf/x data. Cory Schwartz of mlb.com recently sat down with Alan to talk about the professor’s recent SABR38 presentation on PITCHf/x, which featured the […]

Pizza Cutter has a second column on his fielding analyses, checking to see which skills are most closely correlated. Many of his findings are intuitively right, but he also has some surprises up his sleeve. And Skyking has lengthened his list of top position players from ten to 25. Would you believe Mark Ellis ahead […]

That Royal shortstop who can’t hit a lick pitched last night, and Driveline Mechanics was impressed. Is there an anti-Ankiel in our future?

Pizza Cutter asks (and answers) how reliable some aspects of fielding are from year to year. There are some interesting results here, including this one: …most measurements in the OPA! system begin to become less consistent year-to-year as you move from left to right in the outfield. Weird. Very weird, but not inconsistent with other […]

More bloggers check in with second-half projections based on the Quick-n-dirty Marcels utility. Sons of Sam Horn blogger Hairps checks in on the Red Sox and MB from Friar Forecastlooks at the Padres. Colin Wyers from Goat Riders of the Apocalypse projects the Cubs using both Marcel and Dan Szymborski’s ZiPS. From my count, team […]

Magpie reviews the biggest upgrades and collapses of the year, for teams and specific positions. The biggest team upgrade has been the White Sox offense. At individual positions, it’s the catcher for the Cubs; in the AL, the Orioles’ left fielder.

Kanka Sports uses our Marcel Utility to check out the Indians. And Graham Goldbeck does the same for the Oakland A’s. Remember, Marcel needs lots of data in order to make good estimates, so it may not be the greatest tool for a team full of young players like the A’s. But, it’s better than […]

Here’s one person’s estimate of the top ten position players in baseball right now. Before you look at the list, take a crack at your own top ten.