On Saturday, I looked at the top five SwStk% risers, so today I take a gander at the opposite end of the spectrum: the decliners. Whether due to a loss of velocity, change in pitch mix, a mechanic change, or randomness, fewer swinging strikes is usually a bad sign.
I like to think of SwStk% as a good proxy for the quality of a pitcher’s repertoire. So I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the top five pitchers who have seen their SwStk% increase the most since 2010. Whether it is due to a jump in velocity, better location, added movement, or a change in pitch selection, a rise in the metric is usually a sign that the pitcher will enjoy more success, or at the very least, a higher strikeout rate.
After searching far and deep, I was only able to uncover one hidden gem for this week’s deep league waiver wire. Contrary to popular belief, not all White Sox hitters are cursed this year. This week’s pick will hopefully prove to be one of the few who manged to escape the can’t hit disease.
On Saturday, I took a look at the top five decliners in isolated slugging percentage and tried to determine whether any would rebound in 2012. Today I check in on the top five surgers in the metric. Let’s see if any have a chance to hold onto their power gains next season.
As we all know, power is once again down across the league. This season has seen the lowest home runs per game total and ISO since 1993, the lowest SLG since 1992 and is tied with 1995 for the fewest doubles per game. Let’s take a look at the top five decliners in ISO to determine if there is any hope for a rebound in 2012. Given the lower level of offense, I am not suggesting a full rebound, but a context-relative one.
Who doesn’t like playing games? The most common baseball article game I have seen is the Player A and Player B game. And guess what…that is exactly what I am going to play today, with the addition of Player C, who will also be joining the party. So put on your thinking caps, this one is going to be an exciting one, and it stars three American League starters named A, B and C!
Individual league trading deadline have either already passed or are quickly approaching. That means that the only way to try improving your team for the last month is dipping into the dangerous and murky free agent pool. Maybe these two players can help you.
On Saturday, I took a look at the biggest underperforming pitchers based on ERA and SIERA differential. Today I look at the opposite, those pitchers who have most outperformed their SIERA and are ripe for a correction. These guys make perfect last minute sell high candidates in your league this year, especially if you are out of it and still have the chance to make dump trades for keepers. Otherwise, this may be your early list of overvalued pitchers in 2012 drafts.
With a little more than a month left in the season, the SIERA underperformer list is less about this year and mostly about next season. You could use the list in two ways: to target pitchers to acquire before your trading deadline (if you have one) that might come cheaper than expected given their SIERA underperformance or to get an early idea of who might be undervalued during next year’s drafts.
If you are still in the hunt for the cash, congratulations. If not, treat these waiver wire considerations as auditioners (not a word, but it should be) for your 2012 fantasy team. Unfortunately, these two hitters play on crappy teams, but hey, we cannot be picky with our pick ups at this point.
