Factor 12 Leaders: Week 9
The Factor12 Rating (F12) is an analytic measurement utilizing league average performance to compare the value of all MLB pitchers on 60ft6in.com. (1) Aroldis Chapman vaults into the number one position this week despite allowing his first earned run of the season on Thursday night. The “Cuban Missile” has struck out an amazing 54 […]
Contract Extensions: The Good, the Bad, and the Questionable
Free agent signings might get all of the attention during the offseason, but it is often the mid-contract extensions that help build championship-caliber teams. Through April 26th, 39 players received extensions this year (MLB.com), and there will surely be more as spring turns into summer. However, clubs often overvalue one hot season and misjudge a […]
Factor 12 Leaders: Week 8
The Factor12 Rating (F12) is an analytic measurement utilizing league average performance to compare the value of all MLB pitchers on 60ft6in.com. (1) Justin Verlander retains the number one F12 Rating despite having a mediocre outing (6IP 5ER) against the Boston Red Sox. The 2011 AL Cy Young award winner currently holds a 31.937 […]
The Orioles are Flying High, but How Long Before Their Wings Get Clipped?
Want to know something that is scarier than any horror movie currently in theaters? The 2012 American League East. As of May 27th, all teams had winning percentages of .500 or above, as well as positive, double-digit run differentials. What’s even scarier is that the Baltimore Orioles (the long-time cellar dwellers) are still leading the […]
Factor 12 Leaders: Week 7
The Factor12 Rating (F12) is an analytic measurement utilizing league average performance to compare the value of all MLB pitchers on 60ft6in.com. (1) Justin Verlander retains the number one F12 Rating after nearly pitching his 3rd career no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 2011 American League Cy Young Award winner currently holds a 32.413 […]
Angst in the ’Pen: Why It’s Time to Reconsider the Modern Bullpen
At a recent family meal, I became embroiled in a baseball debate with my uncle. A staunch Yankee fan like myself, he stated that Mariano Rivera was the Yankees’ best pitcher prior to his freak ACL injury, emphasizing Mo’s unparalleled success in the postseason. While I have nothing but respect for the all-time saves leader, […]
Factor 12 Leaders: Week 6
The Factor12 Rating (F12) is an analytic measurement utilizing league average performance to compare the value of all MLB pitchers on 60ft6in.com. (1) Justin Verlander regains the number one F12 Rating after pitching his latest masterpiece 7IP/ 2H/ 1ER/ 1BB/ 8K against the Oakland Athletics. The 2011 American League Cy Young Award winner holds […]
Factor 12 Leaders: Week 5
The Factor12 Rating (F12) is an analytic measurement utilizing league average performance to compare the value of all MLB pitchers on 60ft6in.com. (1) Jered Weaver retains the current top spot on the Factor12 Top12 in 2012 with a 32.589 rating. The Los Angeles Angels right-hander continues to pitch superb baseball compiling a 1.60 ERA […]
Factor 12 Leaders: Week 4
The Factor12 Rating (F12) is an analytic measurement utilizing league average performance to compare the value of all MLB pitchers on 60ft6in.com. (1) Jered Weaver pitched the first no-hitter of his career against the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night. The Los Angeles Angels right-hander currently holds the top spot on the F12 Top12 in […]
Factor 12 Leaders: Week 3
The Factor12 Rating (F12) is an analytic measurement utilizing league average performance to compare the value of all MLB pitchers on 60ft6in.com. (1) Justin Verlander continued his dominating start to the 2012 season pitching 6IP/ 4H 0ER/ 3BB/ 8K against the Texas Rangers. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner currently holds the number […]
Factor 12 Leaders Week 2
The Factor12 Rating (F12) is an analytic measurement utilizing league average performance to compare the value of all MLB pitchers on 60ft6in.com. (1) Justin Verlander continued his dominating start to the 2012 season by pitching a complete game win against the Kansas City Royals. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner hurled 9IP / […]
Factor12 (F12) Rating Leaders: Week 1
Aroldis Chapman dominated National League batters during the first week of the regular season. The Cincinnati Reds’ flame-thrower tossed 5IP/ 2H/ 0R/ 0BB/ 10K of 17 total batters faced. Chapman currently leads all MLB pitchers with a Factor12 Rating of 37.537 after one week of play. Justin Verlander opened the season with a dominating […]
Introducing The Factor12 Rating
The Factor12 Rating (F12) is an analytic measurement utilizing league average performance to compare the value of all MLB pitchers on 60ft6in.com. F12 consists of the following twelve statistics incorporating every aspect of pitching. Innings Pitched (IP); Strikeouts Minus Walks (SO-BB); Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP); Earned Run Average (ERA); Walks plus Hits per […]
Are Closers Overrated?
When the Yankees signed Rafael Soriano last year to a three year $35 million contract, it raised an interesting question: do productive set-up men deserve as much pay as closers? Traditionally, the resounding answer has been “no”, as most believe there is some intrinsic value in a closer that no set-up man could ever […]
Who will be Next Year’s AL and NL MVP?
Though advanced statistics attempt to objectively tell you who the best players are, the winner of the MVP award is ultimately up to the sports writers that vote, and which statistics they tend to favor. Therefore, we must first determine which statistics define an MVP. Since the general consensus of baseball writers changes over […]
Why You’re Wrong About Yu Darvish
For many years, American baseball fans with an eye towards the Japanese Major Leagues have been rolling out the red carpet for the Nippon-Ham Fighters‘ 6-foot-5 fireballer Yu Darvish. The NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) has a strange relationship with MLB regarding their players crossing the Pacific to play stateside. NPB players can sign with […]
Sabermetrics 101: Gaining the Fantasy Baseball Edge
Most people who play fantasy baseball participate in leagues which count basic statistical categories. Although actual league formats may differ (head-to-head, rotisserie, points leagues being among the most popular), the categories in which your teams compete are generally the same. Most fantasy baseball leagues will consider the following categories for batters: Runs, Home Runs, RBI, Batting Average and […]
Taking a Look at Pitch Efficiency
Last time we looked at runs scored, hitting categories, and managerial efficiency. Today, we are doing the same with runs scored, pitching categories, and managerial efficiency. Naturally, we are first looking to see how teams did in the various categories. Instead of boring you with numbers, we will go with their rankings in the different […]
Follow the Batted Ball
One of the things those of us in stats all want to do is to go from step A to step F without explaining the steps in between. The main goal in this section is to avoid skipping steps. In the introductory article I mentioned batted ball statistics. Before I move onto those statistics I […]
The Power of Plate Discipline
It’s always entertaining when old ideas and new ideas collide. Ask any fan from a bygone era and they will lament the inability of modern hitters to protect the plate with two strikes. They wax poetic about the power hitters of yore and their ability to hit for power and avoid the strikeout. So, preach […]
Luck Factor and the NL bullpen
We finally get to the last of our luck factor series. For those of you that have been following this all along I give a wholehearted thanks. If you are just joining us you might want to back track and read the first one. It should be archived in the sabermetrics section of […]
Luck Factor in the Senior Circuit (NL): Starting Pitchers
Hopefully, you are following along with the luck factor series. This will be number five in that series. If you haven’t checked it out yet, I will try to give you a quick hook before we dive into the numbers. Fantasy baseball players have many of the same concerns as general managers. When you look […]
Luck Factor Continued: AL Starting Pitchers
As John Lennon once said, “life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” I love baseball, but baseball doesn’t pay the bills. This happens to be the busy season at work, so I had to sit on all of the luck factor data I had generated. I know all of you […]
The “New” Power Hitter
If you think of the great power hitters of all time—Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron—the names that come to mind were more than power hitters, since they were all around fantastic batters. The traditional definition of a slugger did not necessarily include hitting home runs, but rather, hitting the ball solidly and […]
Luck Factor: AL Lineups
Honestly I feel a whole lot better about studying the American League. It has nothing to do with superior play or the designated hitter. It has everything to do with the fact that I am a dedicated Astros fan. I run an Astros blog at Breathingorangefire.com and have been a fan of […]
An Introduction to the Luck Factor in Baseball
There is a schism in baseball between those that we might call traditionalists and those we would call sabermetricians. Traditionalists believe in intangibles. They believe in character, chemistry, and pure athletic skills. Unexplained events are actually explained by clutch performance or what some people call “choking”, Moreover, we shouldn’t try to define it or quantify […]
Jackie Robinson: A Look at His Hall of Fame Career
Could he be elected to the Hall of Fame had he not broken the color barrier? Jackie Roosevelt Robinson was ahead of his time. Emerging almost 20 years before the Civil Rights movement, Robinson is known to African-Americans as a pioneer. He played second base in the Negro Leagues until age 25, when Branch Rickey, […]
“SABR DAY” TO BE CELEBRATED ACROSS THE USA ON JANUARY 30
On Saturday, January 30, 2010, members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) will come together to celebrate SABR and all things baseball. Chapters and members across the US and Canada will gather for everything from Hot Stove discussions to research presentations to guest talks by former players to a Dice Base Ball Tournament […]
Wins and Loses: A Decline in Value?
Image via Wikipedia Congratulations to Tim Lincecum for winning the 2009 NL Cy Young award, just a couple short days after Zack Greinke‘s victory for the AL counterpart. But an even bigger congratulations is in order. A congratulations to the BBWAA voters. Just what am I getting at, you ask? As we’re all aware of, […]
Is Jorge Posada Hall of Fame Bound?
Image via Wikipedia Jorge Posada has played for the Yankees since 1995, and started since 1998. He is a popular player, and as he approaches the end of his career, some noise is being made about electing him to the Hall of Fame. But does he deserve it? Is Jorge Posada a future Hall of […]
