This is off-topic, but I just did a full Fangraphs WAR calculation and I'm excited, as the WAR value and all the sub-calculations match the Fangraphs website values *exactly*. I used their example calculation (Joey Votto, 2013) here: https://library.fangraphs.com/calculating-position-player-war-a-complete-example/ . There are several more pages you need to go to to get all the data and know how to do the sub-calculations like wOBA and wRC. But it's all very doable and actually not all that complicated.
The input is: Votto and the league's counting stats, his Ultimate Zone Rating (fielding), Ultimate Base Running, the MLB totals for the components of WAR, the wOBAScale for 2013, the linear weights for 2013, the Cincinnati Park Factor, the positional adjustments, and the fixed numbers of 1000 WAR total for MLB (I think) and 57% of it goes to non-pitchers.
The only fudging I did is for Park Factor. Fangraphs lists 102, I calculate 102.2, but 102.4 is needed to match everything exactly. I can't find a page that details how Fangraphs calculates Park Factor, but my calculations match theirs exactly... to the units place.
I've been wanting to do this for years and finally did. Now I wonder if they have an example calculation for pitchers, and something else may be needed for catchers, too.
Also, regarding chase/waste zones, that's where the ball is when the ball crosses the plane of the plate, yes? So a slider, cutter, etc. might look good at first but then tail/dive/drop/etc. out in to the chase/waste zones. And, again, if two strikes on the batter, they might be more eager to swing. I think these data need to be examined further.
"He can (and hopefully will) look at every player in baseball but for the purposes of this study he looked at the 12 players who received the most pitches in the chase/waste zones with three balls."
I know these are MLB and they should be able to identify pitches that are in the chase/waste zone, but you didn't state directly that the number of strikes for the count (along with three balls) didn't matter in this study. (Or maybe it did matter.) My point it ... some of this "walk refusal" swinging might be occurring more frequently when there is a full count. Some hitters instead of focusing on refusing a walk might instead be more concerned with NOT being called out on strikes.
It's time to stop with the Gleyber Torres shtick, Joe. Two reasons:
1) It's not as if the Cubs were a naive team that got fleeced. Their GM was Theo Epstein, a man going to the HOF for ending the two most famous sports curses. And the Cubs did get a World Series championship out of the deal.
2) It's starting to sound like you are blaming Gleyber for all of this - kind of like when people refer to a kid in terms of their father who is sitting in prison. He's as exciting a young star as all of the other ones currently rocking the game - try to enjoy him once in a while.
Every time Gleyber hits a home run, I text my sister “future Hall of Farmer”. I have to text her a lot. I think Joe should mention Gleyber in every post.
This is off-topic, but I just did a full Fangraphs WAR calculation and I'm excited, as the WAR value and all the sub-calculations match the Fangraphs website values *exactly*. I used their example calculation (Joey Votto, 2013) here: https://library.fangraphs.com/calculating-position-player-war-a-complete-example/ . There are several more pages you need to go to to get all the data and know how to do the sub-calculations like wOBA and wRC. But it's all very doable and actually not all that complicated.
The input is: Votto and the league's counting stats, his Ultimate Zone Rating (fielding), Ultimate Base Running, the MLB totals for the components of WAR, the wOBAScale for 2013, the linear weights for 2013, the Cincinnati Park Factor, the positional adjustments, and the fixed numbers of 1000 WAR total for MLB (I think) and 57% of it goes to non-pitchers.
The only fudging I did is for Park Factor. Fangraphs lists 102, I calculate 102.2, but 102.4 is needed to match everything exactly. I can't find a page that details how Fangraphs calculates Park Factor, but my calculations match theirs exactly... to the units place.
I've been wanting to do this for years and finally did. Now I wonder if they have an example calculation for pitchers, and something else may be needed for catchers, too.
Also, regarding chase/waste zones, that's where the ball is when the ball crosses the plane of the plate, yes? So a slider, cutter, etc. might look good at first but then tail/dive/drop/etc. out in to the chase/waste zones. And, again, if two strikes on the batter, they might be more eager to swing. I think these data need to be examined further.
If you are only talking about three-ball counts and not full counts, than swinging and missing for a strike is definitely a possibility.
“Pitches in the waste zone are NEVER called strikes.”*
* Unless the umpire is Eric Gregg. c.f. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/lets-consider-eric-gregg-and-livan-hernandez-in-the-1997-nlcs/
And the 1-2% in the heart that are called balls might come from Angel Hernandez
https://twitter.com/someonesanidiot/status/1136087269646000129?lang=en
Exactly.
"He can (and hopefully will) look at every player in baseball but for the purposes of this study he looked at the 12 players who received the most pitches in the chase/waste zones with three balls."
I know these are MLB and they should be able to identify pitches that are in the chase/waste zone, but you didn't state directly that the number of strikes for the count (along with three balls) didn't matter in this study. (Or maybe it did matter.) My point it ... some of this "walk refusal" swinging might be occurring more frequently when there is a full count. Some hitters instead of focusing on refusing a walk might instead be more concerned with NOT being called out on strikes.
It's time to stop with the Gleyber Torres shtick, Joe. Two reasons:
1) It's not as if the Cubs were a naive team that got fleeced. Their GM was Theo Epstein, a man going to the HOF for ending the two most famous sports curses. And the Cubs did get a World Series championship out of the deal.
2) It's starting to sound like you are blaming Gleyber for all of this - kind of like when people refer to a kid in terms of their father who is sitting in prison. He's as exciting a young star as all of the other ones currently rocking the game - try to enjoy him once in a while.
Cubs fan here. Please keep this up until Torres retires, Joe
Strongly disagree. Keep up the schtick, Joe.
Ronald Acuna is more exciting. :)
But he’s not a Yankee. :)
Seriously, you’re probably right. There are a bunch of young players just tearing it up.
Every time Gleyber hits a home run, I text my sister “future Hall of Farmer”. I have to text her a lot. I think Joe should mention Gleyber in every post.
Strongly disagree. Keep up the schtick, Joe.