Category: Baseball
Determining the Top Playoff Contenders in Major League Baseball
John Froschauer-Imagn Images Which characteristics cause a team to either excel or struggle in the postseason? It’s a long-standing debate, and most baseball fans have a preferred theory. Some think it’s having an ace. Others think good contact hitting, or a team’s momentum, is what pushes a club over the top. Some people — the…
Matt Olson Regains Form | FanGraphs Baseball
Even if you’re not a Braves fan, you probably know the rough contours of what’s gone down for them this season. The preseason World Series favorites have had horrid injury luck all year. The reigning MVP, Ronald Acuña Jr., scuffled for 50 games before tearing his ACL. Spencer Strider blew out his elbow. Austin Riley…
Effectively Wild’s Episode 2222: Double Trouble (Effectively) Wild
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley discuss Meg’s return from vacation, Corbin Burnes’s resurgence with his cutter, the demotion of CJ Abrams, the performance of Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, the firing of Reds manager David Bell, the Tigers promoting Jackson Jobe, Shota Imanaga’s post-NPB success, teams not using injuries as an excuse, Charlie Blackmon’s career…
The Reds Cannot Undo What Has Happened, but They Have the Power to Terminate Him
Last Friday and Saturday, the Cincinnati Reds routed the Pittsburgh Pirates in back-to-back games by a combined score of 15-4. The Reds were 74-80 when the Pirates came to town for the three-game series, and their chances of finishing above .500 and matching last year’s 82-80 record were slim, but they kept those hopes alive…
Analyzing Jay Jaffe’s FanGraphs Chat from September 24, 2024
Brooklyn-based Jay Jaffe is a senior writer for FanGraphs, the author of The Cooperstown Casebook (Thomas Dunne Books, 2017) and the creator of the JAWS (Jaffe WAR Score) metric for Hall of Fame analysis. He founded the Futility Infielder website (2001), was a columnist for Baseball Prospectus (2005-2012) and a contributing writer for Sports Illustrated…
New York Mets seeking Baseball Analytics Intern
Intern, Baseball Analytics Location: Citi Field – Queens, New York Summary: The New York Mets are seeking an intern in our Baseball Analytics Department for the summer of 2025. During the summer, the Intern will build, test, and present statistical models to inform the decision-making of our Baseball Operations department. This position requires strong background…
Jaime García Leads All-Star Team | FanGraphs Baseball
I feel a little bad for Shota Imanaga. The Cubs left-hander is sixth among qualified starters in ERA and ninth in K-BB%. He’s thrown 173 1/3 innings, which is a bunch by modern standards, and while we don’t put much probative value in pitcher record in this day and age, Imanaga is still 15-3 for…
At the Helm: Potential Managerial Candidates to Lead MLB Teams
Welcome back to Top of the Order, where every Tuesday and Friday I’ll be starting your baseball day with some news, notes, and thoughts about the game we love. If you’ve read even a couple installments of this column, you know that roster changes are my favorite things in baseball. Free agents, trades, extensions, IL…
Malik Nabers Surges in Odds for Offensive Rookie of the Year
(Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images) Coming into the 2024 NFL regular season, the talk of the NFL in terms of rookies set to play on the professional level was all about the six quarterbacks that were taken in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, which was a league record. The bulk of that…
FanGraphs’ Weekly Power Rankings: September 16–22
The final week of the regular season is here, with most division races already decided. The two Wild Card races look to provide some excitement in the coming days. This season, our power rankings have been revamped to be more reactive to teams’ performance throughout the season. We are using a modified Elo rating system…