SB Nation User Blog: raisingcain

some quotes from the press conference

raisingcain — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 05:18:05 -0000

some quotes from the press conference

From Baggs. The message I get is that is that they have not done as grant hoped, and realized the problems with the season. More mentions of bunting, being more aggressive, velez will play, aaa stats dont matter and posey's not ready, etc. Oh well.

Time to cut the hair, timmy

raisingcain — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 05:55:45 -0000

Time to cut the hair, timmy

questions re exercise and diet

raisingcain — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 20:00:51 -0000

So I'm trying to start getting in better shape, but I really don't know much of anything about fitness and I've heard some things from people that I was a little confused about.

For instance, I have heard many times to build muscle, you must eat a surplus of protein / calories so your body can build muscle - so I am wondering, does that mean that most people gain some fat along with muscle mass? And what would happen with weight training if you do not eat a caloric surplus?

In which case, does that also mean that to reduce body fat most people also lose some muscle mass? And is it impossible to gain muscle and lose fat from the same workout over the same period of time, sort of a general fitness improvement? (I have read that weight training can lead to less fat in the area, something to do with metabolism, but I don't really know)

Oh, and one more question. I've also heard people say getting protein within, say, 30 minutes after a workout helps build muscle. Does this sound accurate, and would the exercise still be effective without this?

I know these questions are very basic and probably should be obvious, but I would appreciate some help. Thanks.

sandoval adjustments (courtesy of fangraphs)

raisingcain — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 23:01:45 -0000

I was looking at pablo's fangraphs page recently and found some of the numbers pretty interesting. I thought I'd try to see how the league has adjusted to him since last year. Of course, the 2008 sample size isn't ideal, but it's not terribly small either. Here are some of the more interesting things I found.

Plate discipline: Not surprisingly, pitchers are throwing a lot fewer strikes (47% to 38%). The difference is even more pronounced on the first pitch strike %, going from 71% to 59%. However, pablo is swinging at less pitches outside the zone (54% to 45%). I didn't check this earlier in the season, so I don't know if the change happened over the offseason or during the season. While it's still not a good number, it's nice to see improvement. Also of note: pablo is swinging at slightly more strikes, but swinging less overall.

Pitch selection and values: The biggest difference here is the increase in fastballs thrown to him, by over 6 percentage points. I would have expected pitchers to try to get him to chase more junk, but I guess they chose the high or inside fastballs. They are throwing a few less changes, curves, and sliders, with more cutters (another fastball, interestingly). The strange thing is, pablo has been hitting fastballs better this year, with his wFB/C (runs above average per 100 fastballs) slightly higher than in 08. He has improved even more on the cutter (still below average), the curve (good), and the change (fourth in the majors in wCH/C). So while pitchers have adjusted their gameplan against him, pablo has actually improved against most pitches.

Meanwhile, his walk rate and k rate are both up. So is his isop (slg - avg).

Batted balls: His line drive% has come down from 25.9% to a more human 19.5%. Virtually all of the "lost" line drives have moved over into increasing his fly ball%. (As a result of the more fly balls, his GB/FB ratio has dropped from 1.56 to 1.25.) He's hitting fewer popups, though, which is nice. Another change is on hr/fb: it has nearly doubled, from 8 to 16%. Now, I'm no stat expert, but I believe that is believed to be in the players' control, correct, not something that regresses to the leaguewide mean? As for his babip, it's still a lofty .358, although that's actually .009 less than last year.

So the line drives have tapered off, unfortunately, but the patience and power seem to have improved. I would say the trends are generally positive. Hopefully we don't find out later that the relatively small sample sizes involved here don't make all this worthless. (And yes, this could have been a link in a fanshot, but isn't it easier when some of the numbers are highlighted for you? I hope so.)

speed off bat data

raisingcain — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 03:11:16 -0000

speed off bat data

Saw this interesting article on beyond the boxscore re speed of batted balls. There's some good stuff in the comments section, too, so be sure to check that out.

Good news for Lewis, not for burriss though.

0:22 !

raisingcain — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 21:09:09 -0000

0:22 !

Best pitches in baseball (2007)

raisingcain — Fri, 01 May 2009 01:23:08 -0000

Best pitches in baseball (2007)

It's an old article, but I thought it was pretty interesting. (I wonder where Timmy's pitches would come out, especially his changeup.)

Btw, check out #3 and #7 for the fastball list.

Fun with espn.com

raisingcain — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 01:24:21 -0000

Fun with espn.com

press the keys: up up down down left right left right b a Then press enter a bunch of times.
Problems with linking, so here it is: http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:ssdn4F46EEYJ:espn.go.com

wilson on comcast? can never tell if he's serious

raisingcain — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:43:54 -0000

wilson on comcast? can never tell if he's serious

I noticed he said something about getting a show on comcast - has anyone heard anything about this? Maybe he's being interviewed, but when?

Also, I have to admit his twitter page entertains me. I don't use it for anything else. So far some of the things he's mentioned:

-plans for a "rap off"
-cutting a hole in his hat for his mohawk
-asking god for a text saying "game on"
-running down the street with his friend's stolen lunch, while cops watch
-Rhona Mitra=sexiest vampire
-he feels like a ninja on the mound
-almost getting into a car crash on the way to the park
-another levitation reference and the idea of throwing 100 mph at random stuff

Giants hope velez can spell rowand in center field

raisingcain — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:25:35 -0000

Giants hope velez can spell rowand in center field

Dear god.