Sports
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Don’t Look Now, but Sonny Gray Is Back
2016 was not kind to elite pitchers at all. Zack Greinke stunk. Dallas Keuchel struggled. And Sonny Gray, who is typically one of the best pitchers in the Majors, finished the season as one of the worst — going from 5.8 rWAR in 2015 to -0.5 rWAR in 2016.
By John Edwards9 years ago in Unbalanced
Unbalanced Trade Deadline Series: Gerrit Cole
We are in full swing this trade season! After the relatively surprising bombshell that was the Jose Quintana trade, the relative price has been set on starting pitching (pssst, it’s pretty high). While there are a bevy of names being floated out there, few on the trading block carry as much value as Gerrit Cole.
By Owen McGrattan9 years ago in Unbalanced
Mike Trout: Pull Hitting Monster
Surprise! Mike Trout is still the best player in baseball. He’s missed a month due to injury and is still a strong candidate to comeback and win the AL MVP award in a year when Aaron Judge is mashing everything into orbit and Jose Altuve’s hitting is more unbelievable than the fact that Houston’s mascot Orbit is supposed to be an alien (how is this an alien?!!?). Trout’s line this year is .328/.450/.719 with a 17.1% BB% and 20.4% K%, good for a 203 wRC+ over 240 PA. Given, we are not dealing with a full season of Trout but we are already seeing multiple changes in Trout’s approach at the plate.
By Owen McGrattan9 years ago in Unbalanced
The Dodgers: Kings of Weak Contact
The Dodgers have been the best pitching staff in baseball this year. They lead the league in fWAR amongst starting and relief pitchers, and they’ve been rolling through teams. They do all the things you would expect an elite staff to do. They strike out a great deal of batters (25.4% K%) and don’t walk many, either (7.1% BB%), giving them the third best K-BB% in the league.
By Owen McGrattan9 years ago in Unbalanced
It’s Time to Start Giving Zack Godley Your Attention
Earlier in a post I wrote as the D-Backs were looking more and more like legitimate contenders, I highlighted Zack Godley as someone who was having a good deal of success. The Arizona rotation is strong. Zack Greinke and Robbie Ray are great, but Zack Godley has continued to fly under the radar.
By Owen McGrattan9 years ago in Unbalanced
The Hero That Golden State Needed: The Three Sides To Every Story
There are plenty of phrases Warriors’ fans could have chanted after the re-signing of NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant: the boys are back in town, the whole gang’s here, we are putting the band back together, etc. The point being, the reigning NBA champions are set for another run at a title. After a flurry of free agent movement, the dust has already seemed to settle in the Bay Area. The Champs have brought back every free agent piece of their own that they deemed important, and even some that were not their own (see Swaggy P).
By Kenneth Wilson9 years ago in Unbalanced
Lindor Versus Correa Versus Bogaerts: Battle of the Elite Shortstops
There’s quite the disparity between the best three shortstops in the AL and the rest of the shortstops in the league. In 2016, Francisco Lindor was worth 6.3 fWAR, Carlos Correa was worth 4.9 fWAR and Xander Bogaerts was worth 4.7 fWAR — then the next closest AL SS was Troy Tulowitzki, worth only 2.8 fWAR. That’s quite the gap between tier one and tier two for AL shortstops.
By John Edwards9 years ago in Unbalanced
