SB Nation User Blog: JBrew

Power Rankings Timeline

JBrew — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:29:22 -0000

Riding on the back of Justin's hard work, I wanted to see the evolution of the divisional races in the BtB Power Rankings. I know the rankings have evolved over time with the inclusion of baserunning and other changes that Justin has made, I was just curious to see how it all worked out over time. So I present a timeline of the expected league winning percentage for each division. This eliminates cantankerous league adjustments that gets everyone going, although there is still some bias since the schedule isn't balanced across the entire league.

(Click on each for larger view.)

NL East

NL Central

NL West

AL East

AL Central

AL West

Some Notes from Captain Obvious:

I like the direction of the Cardinals.
Sorry about those Reds Justin.
That is a quick drop off for the Mets.
Are the Diamondbacks really that much better than their record?
That AL East is full of juggernauts.

(Sorry Justin if this was something you had planned to show at some point.)

xBABIP Calculator

JBrew — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:02:17 -0000

xBABIP Calculator

Stemming from Peter Bendix and Chris Dutton's work, Chris and Derek Carty team up to provide an Excel spreadsheet for calculating, comparing, and determining trends in xBABIP.

HT to all4tookie

HITf/x with heat maps

JBrew — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:07:47 -0000

HITf/x with heat maps

Dave Allen presents some of his wonderful heat maps based on the HITf/x data.

Where would you think the hardest hit (highest horizontal speed) balls are located? - The answer may surprise you.

Jimmy's seasonal WAR totals, sorted best to worst. The average line is the average of all HOF...

JBrew — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:54:26 -0000

Jimmy's seasonal WAR totals, sorted best to worst. The average line is the average of all HOF after 1955 and the replacement level line is the 20th percentile, i.e. a "minimum" requirement (non Jim Rice division).

Seems like a convincing case to me that he should be included. 10 years as good as the average HOF including one MVP caliber season (8+ WAR).

Data is from baseballprojection.com

danup edit: great minds think at the same time; vivaelpujols also took a look.

The break of the curveball

JBrew — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:37:18 -0000

The break of the curveball

I can't claim finding this since another user posted this over at VEB but it is an interesting article.

The brief from the contest website: "In baseball, a curveball creates a physical effect and a perceptual puzzle. The physical effect (the curve) arises because the ball’s rotation leads to a deflection in the ball’s path. The perceptual puzzle arises because the deflection is actually gradual but is often perceived as an abrupt change in direction (the break). Our illusions suggest that the perceived "break" may be caused by the transition from the central visual system to the peripheral visual system. Like a curveball, the spinning disks in the illusions appear to abruptly change direction when an observer switches from foveal to peripheral viewing."

PED debates aside, those are some sick numbers. He did have 10+ WAR in '90, 92, 93, and 96. I...

JBrew — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:03:09 -0000

PED debates aside, those are some sick numbers. He did have 10+ WAR in '90, 92, 93, and 96.

I wish someone smarter than me could calculate the WAR for Mantle and Mays before 1955 so their entire career was included.

Fangrahs and Chone's WAR produce slightly different results with Bonds showing a 2002 value of 13.3 at FG and 12.3 at Chone.

Pujols WAR compared to the clubhouse leaders.

JBrew — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:45:28 -0000

Pujols WAR compared to the clubhouse leaders.