RotoGraphs Audio: The Sleeper and the Bust 8/18/13

by
August 18, 2013

Episode 52
Today’s episode of The Sleeper and the Bust stars yours truly and features RotoGraphs contributor David Wiers. We discuss perhaps the best pitcher on Earth and the debut of a top catching prospect.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @mikepodhorzer or @enosarris on Twitter and tweet us any fantasy questions you have that we may answer on our next episode.

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via the feed.

Intro by DJ Sinton (no, contrary to popular belief, I do not moonlight as a rap star)

Approximately 41 min of joyous analysis.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Mike Podhorzer is the founder of ProjectingX IQ, an advanced fantasy baseball analytics platform that transforms projection data and in-season performance signals into actionable intelligence. He is the 2015 Fantasy Sports Writers Association Baseball Writer of the Year and three-time Tout Wars champion. He is the author of the eBook Projecting X 2.0: How to Forecast Baseball Player Performance, which teaches you how to project players yourself. Follow Mike on X@MikePodhorzer and contact him via email.

8 Comments
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motorcity42
12 years ago

Top flight and great work as always

1
Feeding the Abscess
12 years ago

Kershaw is great, but he can’t touch Pedro’s peak in the late 90s/early 2000s. Pedro’s 1999 K/BB was greater than Kershaw’s K/9. Randy Johnson’s run during that same time was nutty as well – 5 straight years with at least 329 Ks and a BB/9 no higher than 3.17

0
Mike PodhorzerFanGraphs Staff
12 years ago
Reply to  Feeding the Abscess

Yeah, of course. We were just talking about active pitchers.

0
Feeding the Abscess
12 years ago
Reply to  Mike Podhorzer

Ah. Well then, that makes my argument irrelevant. I’d be interested to see how Sale would do in the NL West, as his K, BB and contact percentages are all slightly better than Kershaw’s, and his first strike percentage is also comparable. His LD, GB, and FB rates are also very similar.

0
Mike PodhorzerFanGraphs Staff
12 years ago
Reply to  Mike Podhorzer

Which was basically what I was alluding to by talking about how Kershaw’s metrics aren’t so otherworldly, but he somehow consistently keeps his BABIP and HR/FB rates down. It would be great if someone could figure out what he does to maintain such low rates. That’s what makes him better than everyone else, since his ERA estimators suggest he’s really no better than other top pitchers.

0
Feeding the Abscess
12 years ago
Reply to  Mike Podhorzer

And Sale has faced some stiff competition. 8 of his starts have come against the top 3 offenses against LHP by wOBA, and 11 of his 23 starts have come against teams in the top 8.

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Mike PodhorzerFanGraphs Staff
12 years ago
Reply to  Mike Podhorzer

Interesting stuff. We now need an adjusted SIERA to account for quality of opposition!

0
Feeding the Abscess
12 years ago
Reply to  Mike Podhorzer

Kerhsaw’s edge percentages in 2011 and 2012 were 13.4% and 15%, so I guess that wouldn’t explain it either.

0