Fangraphs: Most and least Improved teams for 2014

[Angrioter]

Most

• Astros, +18 WAR
  
• Phillies, +12
  
• Mariners, +11
  
• Marlins, +8
  
• Yankees, +8
  
• Blue Jays, +8
  
• Padres, +8
  
• White Sox, +6
  
• Twins, +5
  
• Brewers, +4
  

 

Least

• Red Sox, -16 WAR
  
• Tigers, -14
  
• Rays, -8
  
• Braves, -8
  
• Athletics, -8
  
• Reds, -7
  
• Rangers, -7
  
• Royals, -6
  
• Orioles, -6
  
• Pirates, -5
  

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-most-and-least-improved-teams-for-2014/

[G-Snarls]

Them 8 RTTM wins!

 

 

And 16 RTTM losses for Boston? Phillies +12? WTF??

Edited February 26, 2014 by G-Snarls

[Dylan]

I'm really excited to watch someone other than JP behind the plate

[G-Snarls]

I'm really excited to watch someone other than JP behind the plate

 

Navarro might help the pitching staff.

[Angrioter]

Them 8 RTTM wins!

 

2013

Red Sox: 97-65 (85-77)

Jays: 74-88 (82-80)

[flafson]

Navarro might help the pitching staff.

 

Hopefully his English is a non factor cause... He's not very good at it.

[G-Snarls]

Hopefully his English is a non factor cause... He's not very good at it.

 

Stats show JPA was actually a decent pitch framer. But I think we all questioned his game calling.

[G-Snarls]

And 16 RTTM losses for Boston? Phillies +12? WTF??

 

Obviously this means AA and Amaro Jr are geniuses right? Right??

[Angrioter]

Stats show JPA was actually a decent pitch framer. But I think we all questioned his game calling.

 

JP is more durable for being better athlete. Dioner doesn't guarantee 450-500 PA as a catcher.

[flafson]

Stats show JPA was actually a decent pitch framer. But I think we all questioned his game calling.

 

To be honest, i'm not sure that was the problem. If you look at Buehrle, the guy doesn't care about what he's going to pitch, just the quality of his pitches. So he let JP do all the game calling/thinking and it worked just fine most of the time.

I think JP problem was that he focused too much on his game calling that he neglected completely his bet.

[NorthOf49]

I feel like people are going be let down by Navarro. Pretty much every metric has him a bit below average defensively. If he shows up and hits to his career average people are going to hate him.

You don't think there could be something to Navarro getting tired of riding buses and deciding to work hard to improve all aspects of him game? I'm actually optimistic that Navarro turned over a new leaf in 2013.

[G-Snarls]

I feel like people are going be let down by Navarro. Pretty much every metric has him a bit below average defensively. If he shows up and hits to his career average people are going to hate him.

 

Obviously we're so jaded by JPA that it feels like anyone would be better. But you're 100% right, we need to temper expectations here. We essentially have 2 guys now in Navarro and Kratz who probably qualify as "decent backups"

[G-Snarls]

To be honest, i'm not sure that was the problem. If you look at Buehrle, the guy doesn't care about what he's going to pitch, just the quality of his pitches. So he let JP do all the game calling/thinking and it worked just fine most of the time.

I think JP problem was that he focused too much on his game calling that he neglected completely his bat.

 

I don't think that's at all what happened

[G-Snarls]

You don't think there could be something to Navarro getting tired of riding buses and deciding to work hard to improve all aspects of him game? I'm actually optimistic that Navarro turned over a new leaf in 2013.

 

Do we have a real catching instructor this year?

[Dylan]

Can't believe Navarro was our only addition this year and I'm excited to see what he brings. Damnit AA

[G-Snarls]

Can't believe Navarro was our only addition this year and I'm excited to see what he brings. Damnit it AA

 

Worst troll off season ever

[Brenner]

It's somewhat amazing how much better we are projected to be as a result of doing almost nothing this off season. Speaks to how terrible last year was. We could have easily been #2 on the list with 1-2 more moves.

[NorthOf49]

Unless he significantly improves his framing, Kratz is probably the better option. Kratz is actually a good framer, and I'm positive it is why he was acquired. Navarro definitely has the potential to have the far superior bat though. A platoon would probably be best (Kratz vs. L).

You've really sold me on Kratz lol. At first I thought he a nothing depth acquisiton, now I'm really excited to see what he can do.

[Brenner]

Not really. What stands out from the last two years is a BABIP about 40 points higher than his previous career average and a HR/FB more than double his career average. Over 340 PA for a 28/9 year old with 2500 career PA I don't see his recent success with the bat as any more than a lucky stretch.

 

What would the stats have said for Edwin and Joey Bats, they both broke out at the age of 29 and it was more than just a lucky stretch. Hopefully the streak continues. Seems Navarro has the potential to be an Above Average Bat with average defence, that's pretty good. Especially if paired with a Kratz who can provide above average defence and perhaps average bat in select situations (vs Leftys?)

[NorthOf49]

Well, BEST certainly appears to like him. I wonder if they have Hit FX integrated into that.

[GD]

What would HitFX bring, exactly?

[GD]

The end of subjectivity in classifying batted ball data.

 

Very nice. Is it existent and very well hid or just a concept? Would it bring anything else?

[Ehjays]

What are the odds that with one move we are in the top portion.........and the Rangers are in the bottom portion.

 

Is that the JPA effect??

[bendera3]

It's great that we basically get rid of 2 starters from last years team (or make one a UT guy) and we getting 8 wins better. Haaaa.

[NorthOf49]

Very nice. Is it existent and very well hid or just a concept? Would it bring anything else?

Hit FX just as cool and useful as Pitch FX, but the public doesn't (for whatever reason) have access to it. Only the teams do. Same with Field FX. But the hope is that eventually both will be released for our consumption.

[z3r0s]

It's great that we basically get rid of 2 starters from last years team (or make one a UT guy) and we getting 8 wins better. Haaaa.

 

Not quite, If we kept JJ we would probably be looking at a gain of 9-10 wins instead of the 8 wins.

[Smedley Butler]

Most

• Astros, +18 WAR
  
• Phillies, +12
  
• Mariners, +11
  
• Marlins, +8
  
• Yankees, +8
  
• Blue Jays, +8
  
• Padres, +8
  
• White Sox, +6
  
• Twins, +5
  
• Brewers, +4
  

 

Least

• Red Sox, -16 WAR
  
• Tigers, -14
  
• Rays, -8
  
• Braves, -8
  
• Athletics, -8
  
• Reds, -7
  
• Rangers, -7
  
• Royals, -6
  
• Orioles, -6
  
• Pirates, -5
  

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-most-and-least-improved-teams-for-2014/

 

Dafuq? At first f***ing glance this f***ing list looks to be pretty f***ing f***ed. Seriously?

 

Anyone here expect Boston to be 16 games worse, or Tigers 14 games worse for example?

[Smedley Butler]

In all seriousness, not trolling or anything, I honestly think the reason you see so many lardass Hispanic players in MLB is because their cultural cuisine is so carb-heavy. It's all wheat, corn and beans. There's a reason that Mexico overtook the US recently as the most obese country, despite a GDP per capita of like only a third of the US.

[Olerud363]

Well, BEST certainly appears to like him. I wonder if they have Hit FX integrated into that.

 

Apparently according to AA they did not even try to despair Navarro's agents. The BEST must of liked him a lot.

[Smedley Butler]

Based on the velocity, angles, and rotation you could determine what that contact should normally be

 

Wouldn't this require a huge data set to quantify with any degree of accuracy? How long have they been tracking the results of batted balls down to THAT level of detail?

 

Would be an amazing tool for analysis if it proved to be useful in the real world upon application.