Understanding baseball

[mockme]

I've been following baseball for a few years now, and while I do understand stuff like pitching and hitting strategies, constructing line-ups and rotations, there are some things I'd like to learn a bit more about, like understanding some of the more detailed statistics and knowing more about the teams and their players around the league. I know the Cardinals system quite well, but otherwise if someone asks me about some good players I can pretty much only name the superstars of the game, and a few others who I've seen playing. I would also like to learn more about highly rated prospects and who to expect to come up to the majors in the next couple of years. Some stuff I've learned about while reading through the numerous conversations here in OS, but otherwise I'm still pretty clueless. For example, what makes a good relief pitcher (aside from the obvious velocity and control) and how do you determine what role he will play in your bullpen?

My question to you is: can you point out any websites that could help me learn more about these things? I guess Fangraphs is the place to go for the stats and Baseball America for the prospects, but the players already applying their trade around the major leagues I'm not so sure of. MLB.com and other big sports sites are great for news, but they hardly give any detailed information about the players and their strengths and weaknesses.

Thanks in advance for your help! Can't wait to learn more about this great game.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: Understanding baseball

I'm happy to see you taking an interest in learning more about the game, man. Very encouraging.

The thing to keep in mind is that it's gonna take years to learn as much as you want to know. Won't happen overnight. Just gotta be willing to keep watching games. You'll pick up on strategies, different players around the league, etc. You say you want to learn advanced stuff but it's best to learn the basic stuff first before moving on to that.

I'd suggest doing fantasy leagues. Drafting not only exposes you to the names of different players, but fantasy teams give you reason to pay attention to games and players around the league. The Baseball Prospectus book http://www.amazon.com/Baseball-Prosp.../dp/1118459199 has little writeups on all the players and such, too.

Make it a point to visit Baseball-Reference.com too. That's an unbelievable wealth of information and statistics for you.

Maybe just as a nice exercise, people viewing this thread can post about a couple of "unsung" players on their favorite teams to help teach you? I'm a Braves fan. Most everyone knows about Justin Upton and Jason Heyward, but maybe you might not know too much about Freddie Freeman, our first baseman. Young guy, only in his early 20s. He loves swinging early in the count, often on the first pitch. Streaky hitter but when he's on, it's nice to watch. Hits doubles, pretty good power, can get you about 17-25 HR a year. Underrated defense to me, but God knows what the advanced metrics say. I'm not that guy. Or how about shortstop Andrelton Simmons, who's absolutely incredible with the glove. Young guy from Curacao, not terribly great with the bat but has his moments. Guy can get to pretty much anything anywhere defensively. Rocket for an arm.



....watch highlights on the MLB YouTube channel. They're slowly starting to pump out content, which is an awesome development.

[mockme]

Re: Understanding baseball

Maybe just as a nice exercise, people viewing this thread can post about a couple of "unsung" players on their favorite teams to help teach you?

That would be absolutely awesome! A big thank you to anyone who takes the time to do it!

Thanks for all your tips. I visited Baseball-Reference straight away, and have been watching the game recaps on YouTube nonstop. Will also make sure to keep on watching games, and try to avoid only watching the Cardinals, as I already know them quite well.

[Darrick]

Re: Understanding baseball

Cool thread im from england so baseball aint talked about at all over here but i always wanted to be able to play but never know the rules

[lonewolf371]

Re: Understanding baseball

I've been following baseball for a few years now, and while I do understand stuff like pitching and hitting strategies, constructing line-ups and rotations, there are some things I'd like to learn a bit more about, like understanding some of the more detailed statistics and knowing more about the teams and their players around the league. I know the Cardinals system quite well, but otherwise if someone asks me about some good players I can pretty much only name the superstars of the game, and a few others who I've seen playing. I would also like to learn more about highly rated prospects and who to expect to come up to the majors in the next couple of years. Some stuff I've learned about while reading through the numerous conversations here in OS, but otherwise I'm still pretty clueless. For example, what makes a good relief pitcher (aside from the obvious velocity and control) and how do you determine what role he will play in your bullpen?

My question to you is: can you point out any websites that could help me learn more about these things? I guess Fangraphs is the place to go for the stats and Baseball America for the prospects, but the players already applying their trade around the major leagues I'm not so sure of. MLB.com and other big sports sites are great for news, but they hardly give any detailed information about the players and their strengths and weaknesses.

Thanks in advance for your help! Can't wait to learn more about this great game.

Well you have Fangraphs. I visit that site every day.

For relievers I don't think control is nearly as important as missing bats. Aroldis Chapman has been one of the better relievers in the league over the last three years and his career walk rate is 4.47 BB/9. He doesn't get grounders, either. You mostly just want a guy that can go out there, throw 94-96 mph for an inning and sit down. Craig Kimbrel was a great reliever way back in 2011 before he got his walk rate down.

And in line with that, I think velocity might be the most important thing, even more so than strikeouts. Jonathan Broxton was one of the best closers in the game in 2009, but his velocity plummeted 2.5 mph going into 2010 (a huge decline) and along with it went his effectiveness as a reliever. He clawed his way back up to 94.7 mph last year and was moderately effective for the Reds, but it dropped 1.2 mph again this year and his effectiveness once again went down. And that makes sense; if a guy's only pitching one inning it's not like a player has time to get used to his velocity like he would a starter.

So all-in-all I think you can peg a lot of these "break-out relievers" by just finding guys around the majors that can do two things: 1) strikeout at least 9 guys per 9 innings and 2) throw at least 94 mph. Obviously there are exceptions like Sergio Romo and Mariano Rivera who do it with a slider and a cutter, but the fastball guys seem to be most common. I don't think walk rate is that important. Some guys have it and are successful; others don't and are still successful. Now, when you bring up starters, the conversation changes completely. A walk rate above 3.3 will raise my eyebrow; if you're above 4 I don't think you'll last long.

I'd like to see some comments from other people on this or possibly a new topic.

[ginny]

Re: Understanding baseball

I tend to listen to a lot of podcasts to keep up with the latest news and goings on. There's a quite a few varying in length and frequency but maybe give some of these a try to enhance your knowledge:

Effectively Wild
Fringe Average
Baseball America Podcast
Fangraphs
Baseball Show with Rany & Joe
Back of the Bullpen

Effectively Wild is a daily podcast but tends to be around the 20-30 minute mark, which might be easier going than some of the others that top the hour mark. It's the one I most enjoy listening to. Baseball America and Fringe Average are good if you want to hear more about the prospects.

[Perfect Zero]

Re: Understanding baseball

I'll give you some pointers on who is coming up through the Rangers' farm system. Of course the big name is Jurickson Profar, a hard hitting switch hitter from Curacao who plays shortstop. It's likely that he will switch to second base once Kinsler is moved, especially with the news coming from Assistant General Manager Thad Levine that the Rangers intend to keep all three in the system.

Mike Olt is another player to watch who may or may not take over Adrian Beltre's position once he is done playing in the field. Olt has a good bat and flashes a good glove, but he has had eye problems as of late and is just getting back into the game after taking the past half year off. I would expect him to be traded more than playing for us in the future.

The Rangers also have bats in Jorge Alfaro (C), Joey Gallo (OF), and Engel Beltre (OF) that could be used in a trade or later on down the line. However, many of these players are three to four years away from really making a difference.

As for the bullpen: I have always felt that your best pitchers should be in the rotation and the kids that can't cut six and seven innings should be in the bullpen. You want velocity and fearlessness, and somebody who won't buckle under pressure. The current thought is that your best bullpen guy should close games and your second best should set him up in the eighth. The idea is to take away the last half inning from the batting team. I don't agree with it; I feel that your best reliever should face the best batters no matter what inning, but that's a discussion for another time. Saves are an overrated stat; look more toward who has the lowest WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) when looking at pitchers.

I understand how hard it is to learn a new sport and all of the aspects. I started watching football about three years ago and I still don't understand all of the management aspects of it. I play Football Manager but I'm not that good (getting better though); I just sit down at watch as much of the EPL as I can. Eventually I'll get there, you will too with Baseball.

[mockme]

Re: Understanding baseball

I'll give you some pointers on who is coming up through the Rangers' farm system. Of course the big name is Jurickson Profar, a hard hitting switch hitter from Curacao who plays shortstop. It's likely that he will switch to second base once Kinsler is moved, especially with the news coming from Assistant General Manager Thad Levine that the Rangers intend to keep all three in the system.

Mike Olt is another player to watch who may or may not take over Adrian Beltre's position once he is done playing in the field. Olt has a good bat and flashes a good glove, but he has had eye problems as of late and is just getting back into the game after taking the past half year off. I would expect him to be traded more than playing for us in the future.

The Rangers also have bats in Jorge Alfaro (C), Joey Gallo (OF), and Engel Beltre (OF) that could be used in a trade or later on down the line. However, many of these players are three to four years away from really making a difference.

As for the bullpen: I have always felt that your best pitchers should be in the rotation and the kids that can't cut six and seven innings should be in the bullpen. You want velocity and fearlessness, and somebody who won't buckle under pressure. The current thought is that your best bullpen guy should close games and your second best should set him up in the eighth. The idea is to take away the last half inning from the batting team. I don't agree with it; I feel that your best reliever should face the best batters no matter what inning, but that's a discussion for another time. Saves are an overrated stat; look more toward who has the lowest WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) when looking at pitchers.

I understand how hard it is to learn a new sport and all of the aspects. I started watching football about three years ago and I still don't understand all of the management aspects of it. I play Football Manager but I'm not that good (getting better though); I just sit down at watch as much of the EPL as I can. Eventually I'll get there, you will too with Baseball.

Thank you for your answer, and to all the other people replying to this thread as well! I've heard of Profar and Olt, but the other guys are an unkown for me, and your views on the bullpen were a nice read.

Slightly OT, but as for football, I've played and followed that sport for pretty much my whole life. Especially the EPL. And I'm also a Football Manager player. If you ever have any questions regarding the teams, players or the game in general you can always ask me.

[lonewolf371]

Re: Understanding baseball

I'll give you some pointers on who is coming up through the Rangers' farm system. Of course the big name is Jurickson Profar, a hard hitting switch hitter from Curacao who plays shortstop. It's likely that he will switch to second base once Kinsler is moved, especially with the news coming from Assistant General Manager Thad Levine that the Rangers intend to keep all three in the system.

Mike Olt is another player to watch who may or may not take over Adrian Beltre's position once he is done playing in the field. Olt has a good bat and flashes a good glove, but he has had eye problems as of late and is just getting back into the game after taking the past half year off. I would expect him to be traded more than playing for us in the future.

The Rangers also have bats in Jorge Alfaro (C), Joey Gallo (OF), and Engel Beltre (OF) that could be used in a trade or later on down the line. However, many of these players are three to four years away from really making a difference.

As for the bullpen: I have always felt that your best pitchers should be in the rotation and the kids that can't cut six and seven innings should be in the bullpen. You want velocity and fearlessness, and somebody who won't buckle under pressure. The current thought is that your best bullpen guy should close games and your second best should set him up in the eighth. The idea is to take away the last half inning from the batting team. I don't agree with it; I feel that your best reliever should face the best batters no matter what inning, but that's a discussion for another time. Saves are an overrated stat; look more toward who has the lowest WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) when looking at pitchers.

I understand how hard it is to learn a new sport and all of the aspects. I started watching football about three years ago and I still don't understand all of the management aspects of it. I play Football Manager but I'm not that good (getting better though); I just sit down at watch as much of the EPL as I can. Eventually I'll get there, you will too with Baseball.

What are the Rangers going to do with Profar when Kinsler comes back from the DL?

[Perfect Zero]

Re: Understanding baseball

What are the Rangers going to do with Profar when Kinsler comes back from the DL?

General consensus is that he will stay as a super utility guy for the rest of the year. I'm not a big fan of that because Washington doesn't have a track record of playing young guys off the bench. I think we will either move Kinsler in the offseason to the outfield to replace Murphy or Cruz or trade Kinsler. I doubt Profar will be traded; the Rangers think Stanton's price is too high as it is and there are subtle rumors that he won't hold up long term. Profar is as near as you can get to the sure thing.

[Curahee]

Re: Understanding baseball

I'm a Braves fan. Most everyone knows about Justin Upton and Jason Heyward, but maybe you might not know too much about Freddie Freeman, our first baseman. Young guy, only in his early 20s. He loves swinging early in the count, often on the first pitch. Streaky hitter but when he's on, it's nice to watch. Hits doubles, pretty good power, can get you about 17-25 HR a year. Underrated defense to me, but God knows what the advanced metrics say. I'm not that guy. Or how about shortstop Andrelton Simmons, who's absolutely incredible with the glove. Young guy from Curacao, not terribly great with the bat but has his moments. Guy can get to pretty much anything anywhere defensively. Rocket for an arm..

If you want to read an incredible story of perseverance, read about Evan Gattis.
That man should be an inspiration to everyone!

As far as baseball in general is concerned, I will humbly say that I know alot about this game. Its history, its players, its rules and its strategies. I know more than most people I know.
With that said, there are many many people here on OS that know alot about this game.

This is a perfect thread to use for questions.
And honestly, there really is no dumb question, especially if you are new to the game.

I hope we can help you the best way we can.

[mockme]

Re: Understanding baseball

Thought I'd resurrect this thread since I've had so much more time to get into baseball recently, and am starting to learn more about the game. Of course, with more information, more questions pop up as well.

One thing that I'm interested in learning more about is the evaluation of talent for each position. How would you characterize an ideal player for each position?

I know that you expect your corner infielders to hit well - expecting more power from first than from third - and that shortstop is a position where some think defense is more important than batting, or that you want your right fielder to have a good arm etc. Basic stuff, I guess. But I'd still like to hear everyone's input on this.

EDIT: I actually found out quite a bit about this by simply doing a Google search, but I'd still like to read more on the subject. Also, what's the line between a batter projecting as, for example, a shortstop, rather than another position? I occasionally bump into a scouting report that says that the player's bat projects better at shortstop than at third base. I guess this means that the player doesn't bat well enough to play third?