Sports Info Solutions
Author: Mark Simon
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Jeremy Hellickson’s start keyed by curveball
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BY SPENCER HARRISON Before Jeremy Hellickson made his 2010 debut with the Tampa Bay Rays, he was considered one of MLB’s most promising pitching prospects. Through his first two full seasons he looked every bit the part, stringing together consecutive seasons of 2.95 ERA and 3.10 ERA pitching in 2011 and 2012, albeit with some…
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Kole Calhoun can’t beat the shift, but his glove is doing many good things
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BY LINDSAY ZECK Angels right fielder Kole Calhoun has had one of the most unusual seasons of any player in 2018. His offensive performance has been well below his usual standards, but his defense is keeping him afloat. The hitting Of all the qualified batters in the game, Calhoun ranks last in batting average (.151)…
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A closer look at the Mets catching situation
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BY SEAN ZERILLO In 16 games with the New York Mets since being traded for Matt Harvey, Devin Mesoraco has provided a big power boost for his new club – hitting five homers with a .913 OPS over 50 at bats. He has channeled his 2014 All-Star form when he hit 25 doubles and 25…
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Which infielders are best at making the toss-up plays?
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BY HARRIS YUDIN Since the start of the 2017 season, 325 infielders have been the primary fielder on a ball in play with a Sports Info Solutions Defensive Difficulty rating of 3 (1-5 scale). In this piece, we will identify the best and worst at each infield position at converting such plays. A play with…
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How much has Kyle Schwarber improved on defense?
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BY MARK SIMON Kyle Schwarber had a rough re-acclimation to left field for the Chicago Cubs last year. He finished 2017 costing his team 9 runs defensively, which ranked fourth-worst among all left fielders. But in 2018, after a rough Opening Day, he’s flipped the script. His 5 Defensive Runs Saved rank fourth best at…
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When Pedroia returns: Much better than Núñez, but keep an eye on the sliding
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BY NICK RABASCO This past offseason, the Red Sox re-signed infielder Eduardo Núñez with the knowledge that Dustin Pedroia would need a couple months to rehab his knee injury before getting back on the field. Nunez has been playing second base on a regular basis for Boston in 2018. Pedroia has been playing for the…
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Why not shift José Altuve?
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By ANDREW ZENNER I was looking through our data to determine whether there were any hitters that may be strong “shift candidates” that are shifted against infrequently. One name stood out in my findings: Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve. Let’s look at whether other elements of our data support the lack of shifting for…
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Appreciating a .134-hitting catcher – for great defense
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By LINDSAY ZECK Rockies catcher Tony Wolters is hitting .134 so far this season—third worst of all catchers with at least 50 plate appearances, ahead of only Alex Avila and Roberto Pérez. So why haven’t the Rockies sent him down to the minors and brought up the hot-hitting Tom Murphy from Albuquerque? Murphy is currently…
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Johan Camargo’s improvements net him everyday role
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By WILL HOEFER Braves’ Executive Vice President and General Manager Alex Anthopoulos called somewhat of a harried press conference on Sunday morning, in which he informed the media present at SunTrust Park that Jose Bautista had been released. The impetus for that decision, Anthopoulos noted, was to give Johan Camargo the everyday job at third…
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Mike Trout, Albert Almora among outfielders off to strong defensive starts
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By LINDSAY ZECK On Monday, Mark Simon posted a blog entry about rookie Harrison Bader, who has had one of the most notable defensive performances thus far with diving catches like this one. He has already saved the Cardinals seven runs this season—tied for the third most in the league—despite only playing 152 innings. His…