It’s easy to dismiss Spring Training stats. Heck, I used to vehemently deny they had ANY value. They are small samples against a wide variety of competition so how valuable can they truly be to what’s about to take place in the upcoming season? Pretty valuable it seems, if you’re looking at the right ones. Many studies have been conducted on spring stats and they have found that certain stats are indeed useful. The consensus is that strikeouts, walks, power, and stolen bases can be meaningful. With that in mind, here are five stats that stood out to me from the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues.

Jung Ho Kang: .548 ISO in 45 PA

Kang is back in the States and grabbed hold of the 3B job with a massive spring. His .548 ISO was an MLB-best among the 250 players with at least 41 PA. Of his 10 hits, seven left the yard and two others were doubles. He did fan 18 times (40%) so he seemed to sell out for the power and maybe he ups his 21% K rate, but I’d gladly take a 25-27% K rate if he’s going to chase down 30+ HRs.

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3/19/19

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Late Hitters I Like

ADP (select Main Event in the second column)

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A few weeks ago, we quietly rolled out our FanGraphs-Plus (FG+) player captions. These are located on most major league player pages, sandwiched between the most recent links and the data tables. We don’t do enough to promote these often insightful and frequently humorous write-ups. And so, I asked my colleagues to identify some of their favorites for inclusion in this article.

My favorite part of this process is everybody’s approach to the prompt. I tend towards the absurd, such as prior to 2017 when I “mistook” Rougned Odor for his brother by the same name (the resultant caption was NSFW). Others like Jeff Zimmerman prefer very straight takes.

For more player caps, search literally any player. You can also read past seasons.

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Yesterday, I compared my 2019 Pod Projections to Steamer in the stolen base category, identifying five hitters I was forecasting upside for versus the computer system. Today, I’ll discuss five of the downside guys.

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We continue the 2019 Pod vs Steamer series, moving onto stolen bases. I will use the same process as I did with home runs and identify the guys the Pod Projections (the best non-aggregate projections in 2018!) are forecasting upside for versus the Steamer projections.

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Yesterday, I began comparing my 2019 Pod Projections to Steamer projections. I kicked off this year’s series by comparing our home run per 600 at-bat forecasts, starting with the hitters my projections deemed as having significant upside. Today, I’ll check in on the hitters on the opposite end — those that Steamer is dramatically more bullish in the home run department.

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Welcome to the 2019 Pod vs Steamer series, in which I pit my Pod Projections against Steamer projections in a variety of categories. First, I’ll start with home runs and today will be the upside guys.

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Last week, I used my xBABIP equation to identify and discuss eight hitters potentially due for a BABIP surge and six at risk of dramatic decline. Today I’ll check in on hitters that at first glance, wouldn’t appear to be far off from their xBABIP marks, while the surgers and decliners list were quite a bit more obvious. If you posted a .230 BABIP in 2017, you’re probably going to find yourself on a potential surger list, while a .380 BABIP is likely going to get you onto the decliner list.

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Yesterday, I discussed seven of last year’s breakouts and concluded with a verdict on whether I expect each to hold onto at least 80% of their 2018 end of season (EOS) dollar value this year. Today, I will discuss nine of 2018’s busts and conclude each blurb with a decision on whether they are likely to rebound.

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A year ago during Fantasy Baseball Week at The Hardball Times, I researched whether last season’s breakouts were solid investments the following year. Spoiler alert: they are actually terrible investments. Of course, that’s as a group. That means that not every breakout from the previous season is going to fall flat the following year. So let’s discuss some of the big breakouts from 2018 and decide whether each ends up as part of the poor investment bust group or they hold onto their gains.

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