Archive for Hitters

Swing plane has always been an important metric for evaluating batters, but there has never been an objective measure of swing plane in the public. Privately, through wearable technologies or video analysis one could obtain information regarding swing path, which has since gone on to become a valuable tool for coaching and training. Even still, we lacked data from actual games.

Over the past two years many writers and researchers have turned to using Exit Velocity vs Vertical Angle charts to analyze batter performance. Ranging from Rob Arthur to David Kagan to Alan Nathan. It is a great way to visualize the data. I have wondered in the past whether you could use these information to estimate the average plane of the bat on impact. If you were to plot a second order polynomial regression on top of such a chart and take the derivative of the function you could find the peak launch angle, that is the angle with the highest average exit velocity. Perhaps. I’m not entirely sure this is the case, but it is a good place to start. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday, I used my new xHR/FB rate to identify and discuss 15 hitters whose xHR/FB rates actually validate their HR/FB rate spikes in 2017. Today, I’m going to check in on the opposite end of the validations — those hitters who suffered severe declines in HR/FB rate that was confirmed by xHR/FB rate. Without xHR/FB rate, we cannot be sure if it’s luck or just skill changes driving the swings in HR/FB, so the metric assists in making that determination.

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As for now, I can’t find any find any predictability to year-to-year hitter consistency once adjusting for plate appearances. For the readers looking for a short article, stop now and move on to Paul’s thesis on starting pitchers. For the stubborn ones, here is what I’ve additionally found out after previously investigating the subject.

On Monday, I could not find any predictability for hitter being consistency. That is not entirely true, I did find that the more plate appearances a hitter accumulates, the more likely they are to reach their true talent level. And if given the opportunity to be closer to their talent level, the more consistent their output.

The one factor I thought might point to year-to-year consistent play in a player’s statistical profile. Are power hitters inconsistent because a few gusts of wind could make a difference in a half-dozen home runs? Do high-walk hitters see their stats as being more consistent since walks stabilize faster? Basically, are certain hitter types more consistent on a yearly basis.

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As suggested by commenter Konoldo in yesterday’s post discussing 10 2018 HR/FB rate decliners, today I am going to use my new xHR/FB rate to identify surprise 2017 power sources validated by the metric. These are the hitters that either came out of nowhere to post big HR/FB rates, or really upped their games, blowing past even the most optimistic of projections. The knee-jerk reaction is always to expect severe regression, but xHR/FB rates might make you think twice. Perhaps a repeat is more likely than you think for these hitters.

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Welcome to the Ottoneu keeper deadline, 2018 edition.  Today (11:59 PM EDT) is the final day to make that difficult decision about your on-the-bubble players before rosters lock and you set your sights on your upcoming league auction.  Per the rules:

Between the end of the Major League Baseball regular season and the end of arbitration, players may be cut. Between the end of arbitration and the keeper deadline, players may be cut or traded. After the keeper deadline and before the auction draft, teams may not cut or trade any players.

Since the keeper deadline also serves as a de-factor trade deadline, I’ve lined up a few final resources for you below and I’ve asked a handful of Ottoneu experts (Justin, Chad, Brad) to check your questions and comments periodically throughout the day to offer their input on your toughest decisions.  You don’t play this game? You should, but even if your non-Ottoneu keeper deadline is still a few weeks away, feel free to fire your questions below and we’ll do our best to give you feedback (for context, don’t forget to let us know details about your league format).

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Yesterday, I used my new and improved xHR/FB rate equation to discuss 10 hitters whose xHR/FB rates sat significantly above their actual marks in 2017, suggesting serious 2018 upside. Today, I’ll talk about the other end of the spectrum, hitters whose xHR/FB rates were well below their actual marks, hinting at real downside risk in 2018, assuming the same underlying skills.

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Whether I like it or not, I’ve opened Pandora’s box on year-to-year consistency. The concept states that if a hitter’s overall year-to-year production is consistent, the consistent production will continue. Therefore, good, consistent hitters should be valued more highly since owners know what they’ll be getting on draft day. The problem is that consistent overall production doesn’t lead to future consistency.

The discussion started last week when I wrote that Eric Hosmer and Edwin Encarnacion had similar fantasy values but Hosmer’s NFBC ADP (average draft position) was quite a bit lower. Reader’s stated in the comments they devalued Hosmer because of his year-to-year inconsistency.

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UPDATE 4:00pm ET: In the less than one hour since this article was published, Castro re-signed with the Colorado Rockies.

Anybody with information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of the Daniel Castro Fan Club (@DanielCastroFan) should contact the FanGraphs tip line.

Perhaps the weirdest thing happening to me and my fellow FanGraphists is the Daniel Castro Fan Club. Presumably, the club consists of one dude, but I’ll give “them” the benefit of the doubt. “They” contact me at least once a week to promote their pro-Castro agenda. And, for lack of a better topic today, they’re getting their wish. Sort of. Today we’ll discuss bad players who become good. Because Daniel Castro is bad.

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You might recall that just three weeks ago, I shared 10 HR/FB rate surgers for 2018. At the time, I was still using my original Statcast-driven xHR/FB rate. Since then, I have developed a new and improved version of the metric, dubbed xHR/FB 2.0. So it’s time to redo the HR/FB rate surgers. A couple of the names are the same as on the original list, but there are some new faces as well.

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Over the year or two many people have noted that the Statcast numbers in Comerica Park seem inflated compared to the real world results for the batted balls. From cursory research it appeared that this trend may be focused in right field, but perhaps not. Either way, you see Miguel Cabrera topping the xwOBA leaderboards on Baseball Savant, and xOBA leaderboards on xStats while his true results are lagging behind.

In one hand, that may appear to be a positive sign for a possible recovery, given his down season in 2017. In the other hand, it shouldn’t sit that well. His xwOBA is about 60 points higher than his real wOBA. The xStats fair a little better, and the difference is closer to 40 points. Either way, that is an absolutely enormous discrepancy.

There have been some hints that this effect may be focused in right field, which I noticed with Nick Castellanos. When I tell you something weird is going on in right field of Comerica Park, you might instinctively shed blame on that ludicrously deep right center field fence. I certainly did. That fence is about 430 feet deep and 11 feet high. It is one of the deepest areas in any MLB ballpark, rivaling AT&T Park.

But, I no longer believe that is the explanation. More on that in a moment, first I want to explain my methods. Read the rest of this entry »