Batter – Analytics In The Outfield

Isolated OBP

The other day I was thinking about the metric ISO (Isolated Power) which is SLG minus AVG and thought about what a metric of OBP minus AVG would tell us. Of course someone already thought of this, namely Michael Salfino of The Athletic here. It always seems like someone smarter thinks of the good ideasContinue reading “Isolated OBP”

Impact of Banning the Shift

For the 2023 season MLB will be banning the infield shift. This ban is supposed to increase action on the field, which in this case more hits is the goal. This post looks into what a potential impact would be and which players will be most affected. Methodology The idea here is very simple, butContinue reading “Impact of Banning the Shift”

Breakout of Taylor WARd

For years Taylor Ward had been up and down from the major league level and could not gain consistency. Ward then turned himself from an average major leaguer last season (turning it on in the second half) into an above average major leaguer. Before the 2022 season his career bWAR was -0.4 and he isContinue reading “Breakout of Taylor WARd”

Whiff-le Ball (Part 2: Naïve Model)

We saw in the previous post that there were quite a few differences when a hitter whiffs versus when they don’t. The data was sliced and diced in many ways like the count, state, and pitch. In this post I will be getting into some data science discussing a Naïve Model, which is basically justContinue reading “Whiff-le Ball (Part 2: Naïve Model)”

The 2021 Sho (Part 1: Batter)

To kick off this blog I had to do something with my favorite team, the Angels. My friends and family would say I am obsessed but I will say passionate is the better word. Missed only one home opener the last 15+ years and going to 20+ games every year while having to follow everyContinue reading “The 2021 Sho (Part 1: Batter)”