Over the past few days, Eno Sarris has been rolling out our consensus ranking for players at various positions. To create my rankings I used ZiPS rest of season stats to compile my rankings. The only time I changed my ranking was because of expected time lost on the D.L. For some players who are having a good 2012 season (Josh Reddick, Jed Lowrie, Allen Craig, Edwin Encarnacion and Trevor Plouffe), my rankings are lower than most people expected. Today, I am going to look at one cause for a player to be out performing his projections: injuries.

Note: I will be looking at lack of past playing time and a measurable change in talent for the other two causes for a player out performing there projections.

Injuries and how they relate to player performance are one of the few last few frontiers in sabermetric studies. This off season, in two separate studies, Mitchel Litchman (MGL) and myself looked at how injuries affect a hitter’s performance. In MGL’s study, he looked at players who went on the DL and how they performed. He found that hitters under performed their SLG in the year of the injury, but the rest of their traits stayed constant. In my study, I looked at players who played through injuries without going on the D.L. and found the same conclusion. In the year after the injury, the player exceeded their projected power numbers.

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As news of Dillon Gee’s potentially season ending blood clot spread, Mets fans and fantasy owners began to speculate whether or not the Mets would call up Matt Harvey to assume Gee’s spot in the rotation. A slew of variables will weighted by Sandy Alderson, Paul DePodesta and company to ultimately determine what’s best for right hander and the club. But, here at RotoGraphs, all we care about is how Matt Harvey can affect your team should the Mets call him up. If Buffalo’s ace does to Queens, be wary. While his long term potential remains high — he projects to be innings eater with swing and miss stuff — he still has a way to go to get there.

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For all of the hand-wringing about Tim Lincecum’s sudden decline in San Francisco, there’s been another surprising implosion that seems to be flying far under the radar. Longtime Brewer Rickie Weeks, who had been essentially tied with Brandon Phillips as the National League’s best second baseman over the previous two seasons, limped into the All-Star break with a dismal .199/.314/.343 line. There’s more to life than batting average, of course, but of the 155 qualified hitters this year, he currently stands dead last, the only man in baseball with an average south of .200. His Brewers start the second half five games under .500 and eight games behind the Pirates after making it into October last year, and while the absence of Prince Fielder and the struggles of John Axford seem like obvious culprits, Weeks’ sudden transformation into “Brendan Ryan on a bad day” can’t be dismissed as a huge reason why.

It doesn’t take a ton of research to see Weeks’ biggest issue in 2012, and that’s that he’s simply having difficulty making contact. For a guy who struck out 20.8% of the time last year and had never topped 24.4%, seeing his whiff rate jump up to 28.6% this year is jarring. It’s the seventh highest rate in baseball, and at least some of the guys ahead of him – like Adam Dunn & Pedro Alvarez – are compensating for that with huge power when they do connect. Weeks isn’t putting bat on ball, and when he is, he’s either not making solid contact or not getting any love from the BABIP gods with a .267 mark that’s far below his career norms. It’s a bad combination, and the fact that the outcome is poor shouldn’t be surprising, though he is attempting to compensate with patience, leading to a career-high walk rate.

Yet despite Weeks’ sorry position on the bottom of the leaderboards, I like to think there’s some hope here, and not just because I have a hard time believing that a player with his track record can completely disappear in his age 29 season. Over the last month – arbitrary endpoints, I’ll admit – he’s looked more like the Weeks of old, hitting .280/.363/.460 in 113 plate appearances, along with two home runs in his final three games before the break. Read the rest of this entry »

With the All-Star Break upon us, and the trade deadline getting closer, the Bullpen Report will look a little different over the next few days. Stay along for the ride as we dive into the world of trade rumors and how that might affect some of the bullpens in baseball.

• The Seattle Mariners have been one of the teams constantly coming up in discussions that center around relief pitchers changing teams sometime this month. It’s no surprise, either — at 36-51, they own the worst record in the American League and merely plugging a small leaky hole or two via free agency isn’t going to suddenly make them watertight again. Most of the talk has centered around moving Brandon League, a guy making $5 million in 2012 before hitting free agency for the first time this offseason. While League (career 3.65 xFIP, 4.64 in 2012) and his expiring contract is the obvious choice, could (or should) the Mariners entertain the idea of trading Tom Wilhelmsen as well?

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Phew what a bear. Starting pitchers remain on the docket for Monday, but thankfully only catchers tomorrow. Because there seem like there are about a million outfielders.

Of course, not all of them are any good, especially in a mixed league. And we probably ranked about three times as many as we needed to for mixed leaguers. But at least all the relevant names are here. Even if there are too many to recap in any comprehensive way, they’re here.

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Last year, Elliot Johnson was one of the worst hitters in the majors. With a 57 wRC+ backed by just four home runs, six steals, and a strikeout rate near 30%, Johnson’s lackluster performance had many questioning whether he would even earn any playing time this year. With injuries this year to infielders Evan Longoria and Jeff Keppinger and an even worse hitting performance from one of his primary shortstop competitors last year in Reid Brignac, Johnson has amassed 230 plate appearances and has been quite solid, netting a 110 wRC+.

Some of the performance is likely inflated, but Johnson has had a very effective year as a dual eligible middle infielder. An improved walk rate, reduced strikeout rate, and dramatically increased line drive rate have led to Johnson’s solid .275/.339/.386 line. The power has dropped, but the on base skills have improved as his ISO falls. Johnson’s biggest attribute in a fantasy context has been in his stolen bases, where he has nabbed 15 bags in 19 chances.

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Mike Trout is a stud.  No question about it.  At 20 years old, the Angels outfielder has taken MLB by storm with a .341/.397/.562 slash line that comes with 12 home runs, 40 RBI, 57 runs scored and 26 stolen bases. He’s delivered all of that and, mind you, he was in the minors for the first month of the season. The production has been phenomenal and as an owner of Trout in my primary keeper league, the smile is so wide, it makes the Kool-Aid guy look like a crying fool. But while the old adage is not being able to see the forest through the trees, so many keeper league owners are so hell-bent on building up their future that they fail to see the season at hand and are so willing to dismantle their entire squad simply to acquire Trout and hand me the league this year. Read the rest of this entry »

These tiers are a bit later than the rest of the crew, as my vacation delayed my writing. All can breathe easily now as they have finally arrived! You can check out my June update here. A quick note: I have removed pitchers who were demoted to the minors since I have no idea when and if they will be returning to the Majors.

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With the All-Star Break upon us, and the trade deadline getting closer, the Bullpen Report will look a little different over the next few days. Stay along for the ride as we dive into the world of trade rumors and how that might affect some of the bullpens in baseball.

• The Houston Astros are ready-and-willing to unload their ninth inning man, Brett Myers, and as much as they can of the remaining portion of the $11 million he was to earn in 2012. Teams that will likely inquire about the right-hander’s services are the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Mets. The Astros’ current general manager, Jeff Luhnow, served as the Vice President of the Cardinals from 2003-2011 and had a hand in drafting many of the players in their farm system, which seems to make them a decent fit.

While the Cardinals’ current closer Jason Motte has locked down 20-of-24 save opportunities, the bullpen as a whole ranks in the bottom five of all MLB bullpens with a 4.48 ERA. As for the Mets, well, it’s no secret they’re on the hunt for some relief reinforcements to improve on that league-worst 4.94 ERA.

So what does a trade mean for the guy that has saved 18-of-20 with a 3.34 ERA (3.92 xFIP) and a 3.17 K/BB? First and foremost it means that Myers’ wallet would get a little fatter, as he would claim a $500,000 kicker for being traded. It also means that Myers would likely be reduced to a set-up role, and for those outside of holds leagues, he could have little-to-no fake baseball value. If by chance he landed in Flushing Meadows, Myers could see a few save chances depending on how well Frank Francisco returns from his oblique injury as well as the continued development of Bobby Parnell.

This is way too much speculation for me, so I’d be looking to sell my shares of Myers before the Astros move him. Brandon Lyon looks like a good bet to take over the ninth inning role when Brett Myers is dealt. Lyon, who has 78 career saves, is 0-2 with a 3.24 ERA (3.70 xFIP) and a 9.45 K/9 (4.38 K/BB) in 35 appearances (33.1 IP) this season.

• Not that Buster Olney is the end-all-be-all when it comes to potential moves at the trade deadline, but he is one of the more reliable insiders who always seems to have his ears to the ground. With that said, back in June Olney tweeted that the Colorado Rockies would have to be “overwhelmed” by rival clubs in order to move their closer Rafael Betancourt (or Matt Belisle).

Despite Olney’s remarks, teams would still be wise to inquire on Betancourt due to his reasonable contract and overall performance in the recent years, as Ben Duronio notes. Through the first half of 2012, the 37 year-old Betancourt is 15-of-19 in save opportunities with a 2.84 ERA (3.56 xFIP) and a 3.78 K/BB.

If by chance a team is able to pry Rafael Betancourt out of Colorado, Matt Belisle or Rex Brothers could be called upon to close out games. Belisle has had the better overall season to date (3-2, 1.93 ERA, 2.96 xFIP, 5.00 K/BB) but Brothers had a monster June with a 0.66 ERA, 0.66 WHIP and a 7.0 K/BB in 13.1 IP.

• Sometimes a team’s best acquisition around the deadline isn’t in the form of a trade. It may come as a player returning from the disabled list like Jacoby Ellsbury, or in the case of the Miami Marlins, a player returning from suspension.

Juan Oviedo, the reliever formerly known as Leo Nunez, will finish his eight-week suspension for identity fraud on July 22nd and rejoin the Marlins bullpen. Oviedo and his 92 career saves will immediately bolster the depth in the Marlins’ bullpen and give Ozzie Guillen an additional experienced arm to call on in save situations.

Although Heath Bell was a perfect 6-for-6 in save chances in June, he is just 3-of-5 in July and now 19-of-25 on the season with a 6.75 ERA. Ozzie Guillen stated that the Marlins would begin the second half with a closer-by-committee based on Bell’s recent struggles, and once Oviedo returns, he figures to be a part of that committee. Oviedo makes for a fine add for you saves chasers.

Closer Grid:

[Green light, yellow light, red light: the colors represent the volatility of the bullpen order.]

By now, you might have a favorite ranker among the four of us. That’s fine, we’re adults. We’ve gathered to give you four options for a reason. In fact, we’ve gathered these four guys in particular for a reason.

Jeff Zimmerman primarily uses ZiPs rest-of-season projections, with a few tweaks, and so he’s our Sober Suzy. ZiPs does use information from this year, weighted against information from past years, and it does include playing time projections, but it does not get caught up in the excitement of a player in a breakout. Zach Sanders has his own projections, which are more intuitive, and he uses his value calculator to stack the players up against each other. On the other end of the spectrum, you have me and Mike Podhorzer. We are more intuitive, and yet we have different ideas about the players and different levels of cynicism.

Taken as a whole, you should get a reasonable set of rankings that doesn’t get too caught up in a hot month, or too upset about a bad start. That’s the aim.

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