With about a month of the season in the books, it’s time to start calculating my various xMetrics. We’ll start by calculating hitter xHR/FB rate and comparing it to his actual mark. Today, I’ll look at hitters who have most underperformed their xHR/FB rates, suggesting significant upside over the rest of the season assuming they sustain such underlying skills. In an attempt to reduce really small sample size weirdness, only batters who have hit at least 20 fly balls will be listed and discussed.

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On Tuesday, I shared some early Statcast statistic trends and compared them with historical marks going back to 2015. Unfortunately, I compared April 2019 numbers to full season marks from previous seasons, which wasn’t exactly apples to apples. I have corrected that error and spent some time collecting data only through the end of April for all previous seasons. So let’s try this again.

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Welcome to the closer speculation edition of the deep league waiver wire! We all hate paying for saves on draft day, which often results in having to chase them all season song, which also fuels hatred. So the best option is to speculate on potential closers during the season, buying current middle relievers cheaply in the hopes that they see some save opps in a couple of weeks.

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Last Thursday, I discussed the early 2019 hitting trends and yesterday, I hopped over to the pitching trends. Today, I’ll return to the hitting trends, but this time from our good friend Statcast. With data going back to 2015, we now have a pretty good picture of what has been in the past and what is happening now.

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On Thursday, I shared and discussed some of the early 2019 hitting trends. Today, let’s flip over to the pitching side. In an effort not to double up on the metrics already discussed last week, I’ll focus mostly on pitch mix and velocities.

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It’s been fascinating to watch baseball evolve and how various metrics have trended over the years. While it’s still a tiny sample size for players, it’s definitely not for the entire league as a whole. So let’s observe and discuss the major hitting trends several weeks into the season and how it impacts fantasy valuations and your teams.

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Welcome to the full-timers still owned in less than 10% of CBS leagues edition of the deep league waiver wire. With some exceptions, I expect every regular hitter to be owned in more than 10% of leagues. Here are two that should be.

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Yesterday, I discussed a bunch of preseason top 100 hitters who are off to slow starts. Today, let’s go over the starting pitchers with ERAs in the stratosphere. The analysis is primarily going to to focus on velocity and pitch mix, and perhaps SwStk% and maybe strike percentage, though the latter two are heavily affected by the tiny sample size and opponent. I’m going to stick with starters generally projected for sub-4.00 ERAs.

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About two and a half weeks in, we know it’s way too early to panic about slow-starters, yet many of you are itching to click that drop button. While I won’t be advising you to drop any of the players I discuss here, let’s evaluate their skills during their slow starts to see if there’s anything worrying to monitor over the next couple of weeks. I’ll stick with hitters that CBS ranked within its top 100 in the preseason.

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I covered the hitter Z-Contact% surgers and decliners earlier in the week. Today, I’ll switch it up to pitchers, but only discuss the improvers. These are the guys who have seen their Z-Contact% decline the most. Preventing contact on pitches thrown inside the strike zone is the ultimate validation of a pitcher’s stuff in my mind. So let’s find out who has improved most in the metric over this still small sample size.

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