While I use the Statcast hitting leaderboards and metrics often, I rarely do for pitchers. I think it’s because there has been much less research performed and shared on the explanatory and predictive powers of the metrics. So I’ve just stuck with underlying skills, SIERA, and my xK% and xBB% metrics. I’m not here to run a study, but figured it was still worth diving into the xwOBA to try uncovering some pitchers likely to improve over the rest of the season.

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Welcome to this week’s dive into the wild free agent pool. Let’s find out which two treasures we have uncovered.

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Yesterday, I shared and discussed the hitters who were leading in barrels per fly ball + line drive rate. Let’s now take a peek at the bottom dwellers. Of course, there are going to be your typical suspects, but there are some names that are surprising.

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With about a quarter of the season now in the books, let’s dive into some Statcast data. We know that power could ebb and flow each month and we have witnessed time and time again a hitter whose power is down early, but ends up going absolutely bonkers at some point and making up for the slow start. One of the best, most easily calculable metrics is barrels per fly ball + line drive rate. The problem with the barrels per batted ball event on the Statcast leaderboard is that it counts all batted ball types. It therefore ends up punishing ground ball hitters and doubly benefiting fly ball hitters. While that’s fine if you want to project isolated slugging, it’s a flawed metric if we only care about HR/FB rate. Barrels per plate appearance is even worse, as batters are now punished for walks and strikeouts, as those particular times to the plate failed to result in a barrel…well, duh! So Barrels/FB+LD it is.

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On Tuesday, I identified and discussed the hitters who have enjoyed the largest spikes in fly ball rate, firmly entrenching them as new or more senior members of the fly ball revolution. Today, let’s find out which hitters have departed the revolution as their fly ball rates have plummeted.

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It’s becoming a fly ball happy world, as fly ball rate now sits at its highest mark since 2010. The revolution is showing no signs of slowing down. So let’s find out after the first month which hitters have increased their fly ball rates the most. I’ll list everyone who has boosted their marks by at least ten percentage points (40% to 50%).

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On Thursday, I discussed some of the statistical oddities and extremes on the hitter side after a month of play. While we preach not to make rash decisions based on small sample randomness, it’s because it could lead to some really fun, weird, and extreme results. Let’s dive into some of the weird and extreme starting pitcher stats.

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While we stress “small sample size” so often early in the season to the point that y’all probably tune out at this point, it could yield some fun stats, both weird and extreme. Let’s dive into some of the most interesting extremes after the first month.

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Welcome to another edition of the deep league waiver wire! Step right up and scoop up your favorite hidden gem.

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Yesterday, I calculated my xHR/FB rate equation to identify and discuss 11 hitters who have most underperformed their xHR/FB rate marks. Today, I’ll look at the overperformers.

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