Harry Pavlidis

Hey enemies for the next three days! Trevor Cahill not only gets a lot of ground balls, but he turns them into outs at a high rate. And it's not just the plus defense behind him. You watch him all the time, is that for real or is he just lucky?

Not really.

A quick look at Martin's stats in the Mexican League. Puts them in context with the competition he was facing and reveals what looks to be a big improvement in 2009.

Baselines for batted ball rates and outcomes in the minor leagues.

My latest at Hardball Times breaks down a few metrics by pitch type, just covering the 2009 debuts (thus excluding some rookies).

This one surprised me. When I read that Red said Doggie will stretch out the farmers, I didn't realize just how badly they need it. The numbers? Rate of pitchers going into the sixth inning, by affiliate.

Applying my filter/bias to minor leaguers .... 29 pitchers made the cut. The bias? Strike throwing ground ball pitchers who miss bats and suppress home runs (is that too much to ask for?).

Careful what you wish for.

A Cubs f/x exclusive interview with the newest member of the organization, and rotation candidate, Mike Parisi

Curtis out. Melky and Pods in. And Rule 5 could shake things up on the lower end of the depth chart.

A wee bit of background and scouting on Atchison.

Hendry better be smart about this one.

Winter is here, let the digital scouting begin. Take a look at these eight rookies in PITCHf/x: Jeff Gray, Esmailin Caridad, Jeff Stevens, Justin Berg, Mitch Atkins, Blake Parker, James Russell and John Gaub.

A PITCHf/x scouting report on the 2009 AL Rookie of the Year

How representative of Big Z's ability was that two-hitter in San Francisco? Weak line-up, cool and damp weather (shocker) and aggressive swings, sure. All things considered, maybe Lou is right. More at the link.