Sabermetrics Open Idea Thread

by Mike Rogers on Mar 9, 2010 3:30 PM EST in Open Threads

I fess up to it: I'm not a great 'ideas man.' That makes for sporadic blogging during the off season on my part. So, what we have here is anything you'd like to see me cover in the future -- be it sabermetrically or not -- that pertains to the Tigers. I do have a couple things in the pipeline, including another Saber 101 piece.

Please leave any ideas or links to anything you found interesting that you'd like to see applied to the Tigers in the comments. I've got a very small grasp on doing a lot with PITCHf/x (you can see examples at my old blog here), so if you'd like to see some of those, or even better explanations of advanced stats, let me know!

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You're such a VORPy

A segment on win values of individual pitches would be fun. You can compare Porcello’s 2-seamer to Verlander’s 4-seamer and such.

by ChrisDTX on Mar 9, 2010 4:07 PM EST reply actions

What interests me

Mike- I look at the fangraphs numbers where Polanco leads the majors in UZR, then check out the Hardball times, where he’s well down the list in RZR, and his OOZ plays show nothing great. Reading the glossary definition for how the UZR is calculated makes me dizzy, although I think that I have a general understanding of what they’re doing. I’m not quite sure how they get from RZR and OOZ plays to UZR, but they somehow convert the player’s efforts in the field into runs and wins.

I always liked the RZR numbers over at THT. Seems simple enough, this is the percentage of balls hit into his “zone” that are turned into outs. You have to look at the OOZ plays as well, or you’re short changing the player for plays that he makes outside of his “zone”. Players like Inge and Figgins would be grossly under valued. But now, even THT has deferred to fangraphs and UZR, where Polanco goes from very average in the field to best in show. How does that work? What is it about Polanco’s fielding that elevates him in the advanced metrics?

Thanks.

by Tigerdog1 on Mar 9, 2010 4:16 PM EST reply actions