We had a big delay on the Statcast data becoming available this morning, that’s something that happened a lot last year but had not been an issue at all this year yet.
I’ll give you a quick rundown of my processes here for anyone interested. It all starts with the MLB team loading their pitch-by-pitch data into the place where the API can grab it. That’s happened crazy early in the mornings (before 7am at least) every day this year so by the time I’ve gotten up the data has been there and off I go.
After that data is available, I load it into my databases (Google Drive, I don’t have a very professional operation going on here) and then my Python scripts go to work. Python scripts (run on Google Colab - a cloud Python notebook environment, which is fantastic) update the dashboard files, the Google sheets, send out automated tweets, and so on and so forth.
But without that initial data load from MLB, I am dead in the water. So now after writing this, I will go back to staring at the API results until the data shows up.
While I don’t have any baseball data to talk about, maybe I should talk more about my grass. Man is it beautiful.
They say cleanliness is next to godliness, and I can buy into that. But owning and stewarding your own property is also next to godliness. I feel connected with God when I’m out there mowing that grass. That line sounds like one of my jokes, but in actuality, it’s really not. I’m not even a big #nature guy, I don’t hunt or fish or travel or hike - but I get it, man, I get it.
Alright, we did it. I know that it took you like a microsecond to get your eyes from above that line to below it, but that was a long three hours of waiting for me to get the data loaded. But we’re live now!
Mitch Keller pooped on the Dodgers. 15 whiffs, 10 strikeouts, and six innings. He now has five straight quality starts with a 27%-8% K-BB%. The bad news - he isn’t getting many ground balls (41%) and his SwStr% stinks (11.4%). But I don’t want to hear the bad news, I want the Pirates to win the freaking pennant.
George Kirby had a season-high seven strikeouts and 27 fantasy points in his best effort of the year. The strikeouts haven’t come up like I was expecting (20% K%), but he’s taking the “don’t walk anybody” business to a new level.
Eflin 1.6%
Kirby 1.7%
DeSclafani 2.6%
Wells 2.9%
deGrom 2.9%
Bubic 2.9%
Garrett 3.2%
Ryan 3.3%
Bradley 3.3%
Webb / Cobb 3.4%
Brent Rooker because the 30th hitter since 2020 to take Shohei Ohtani deep. Only one hitter has done it twice. Who is it? Can you name him? Close your eyes and think and make a guess!
Nathaniel Lowe is the answer!
Rooker is a magic formula qualifier, a Brl% leader, an xwOBA leader, an xwoba IMPROVER, and a K% IMPROVER - he’s all over these notes! I picked him up in the home league on Tuesday and PAUL (whose nickname we cannot reveal) criticized me for it!
Now yes, in a normal situation picking up some career minor league 28-year-old guy just cause he pops a few dingers in April would be a Jake move (the doormat of the Burrell Fantasy Baseball League), but in this case I’m feeling fine about it. Rooker is doing everything right, and it’s at least possible that he’s just good enough for the bigs and just nobody #believed #in #him enough to give him the shot in the last couple of years.
Tyler Mahle is hurt, and that’s really scary. You’ll see below that his velocity was in the pits yesterday and he left with elbow soreness. It’s hard to imagine this will turn out okay for him, I’d say he’s likely to join Kenta Maeda on the IL quite soon.
But that’s good for Bailey Ober who should take the rotation spot. He has a 28% K% and a 10% BB% between AAA and MLB this year:
He was someone I was quite excited about this offseason since he really showed some upside last year, and maybe it’s his time to shine now. He is a must-add in leagues that give you extra points for player height.
Some of these super cold hitters are interesting
MJ Melendez
Luis Robert
Dansby Swanson
Jazz Chisholm
Triston Casas
Very disappointing seasons for all of them and they are whiffing a whole bunch lately.
I would not budge on any of those names besides Casas, just keep starting them. I guess if you have like Jonah Heim or Shea Langeliers or someone behind Melendez then you can make that switch in your starting lineup, but I still quite like the upside for him and wouldn’t overreact to April.
Akil Baddoo makes an appearance on the hot hitter tracker! This more highlights the problem with the hot hitter tracker than says anything good about Baddoo. It’s easy to appear as hot if you have been awful in the past, because the hot hitter algorithm just compares your last week with your recent career numbers. So if you completely suck eggs for a year and then suddenly become mediocre - you’ll pop up there. Don’t do anything on Baddoo, I shouldn’t have even written this paragraph!
Let’s do some player leaders under 40% owned to wrap things up.
K-BB% Leaders (3+ GS, < 40% Owned)
Strahm 28%
German 22%
Kikuchi 21%
Schmidt 20%
Taillon 19%
Sears 19 %
Smyly 19%
Wells 19%
M Keller 19%
Peterson 18%
JA Hitter Ranks (75+ PA, < 40% Owned)
Naylor
Burleson
Soler
L Garcia
Hayes
Olivares
Yastrzemski
McCutchen
Flores
Dubon
It’s the weekend now. Sadly it looks like everybody’s favorite team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, will be rained out tonight - but hang in there, the sun will come out, tomorrow.
1. Mitch Keller (PIT): 15 Whiffs (97 Pitches)
2. Julio Urias (LAD): 15 Whiffs (96 Pitches)
3. Shohei Ohtani (LAA): 15 Whiffs (93 Pitches)
4. Gerrit Cole (NYY): 14 Whiffs (92 Pitches)
5. Logan Webb (SF): 13 Whiffs (102 Pitches)
6. George Kirby (SEA): 13 Whiffs (89 Pitches)
7. Andrew Heaney (TEX): 12 Whiffs (97 Pitches)
8. Kyle Wright (ATL): 12 Whiffs (45 Pitches)
9. Dylan Cease (CWS): 11 Whiffs (99 Pitches)
10. Joey Wentz (DET): 11 Whiffs (86 Pitches)
1. Mitch Keller (PIT): 15.5 SwStr%, 38.1 CSW%
2. Shane McClanahan (TB): 11.0 SwStr%, 37.0 CSW%
3. George Kirby (SEA): 14.6 SwStr%, 31.5 CSW%
4. Gerrit Cole (NYY): 15.2 SwStr%, 31.5 CSW%
5. Joey Wentz (DET): 12.8 SwStr%, 31.4 CSW%
6. Julio Urias (LAD): 15.6 SwStr%, 31.2 CSW%
7. Shohei Ohtani (LAA): 16.1 SwStr%, 30.1 CSW%
8. Logan Webb (SF): 12.7 SwStr%, 29.4 CSW%
9. Andrew Heaney (TEX): 12.4 SwStr%, 28.9 CSW%
10. Tyler Mahle (MIN): 9.1 SwStr%, 28.8 CSW%
1. George Kirby - 8.0 IP - 148.0 JA Points
2. Mitch Keller - 6.0 IP - 136.5 JA Points
3. Gerrit Cole - 6.67 IP - 127.5 JA Points
4. Shohei Ohtani - 6.0 IP - 116.5 JA Points
5. Logan Webb - 6.67 IP - 115.0 JA Points
6. Joey Wentz - 5.67 IP - 114.5 JA Points
7. Andrew Heaney - 6.0 IP - 111.5 JA Points
8. Shane McClanahan - 5.0 IP - 110.5 JA Points
9. Kyle Gibson - 4.33 IP - 101.5 JA Points
10. Seth Lugo - 5.0 IP - 101.0 JA Points
1. Jacob deGrom (TEX) - 5.0 GS - 126.65 JA Points
2. Nick Lodolo (CIN) - 5.0 GS - 118.93 JA Points
3. Shane McClanahan (TB) - 6.0 GS - 118.01 JA Points
4. Jesus Luzardo (MIA) - 5.0 GS - 117.5 JA Points
5. Spencer Strider (ATL) - 5.0 GS - 116.17 JA Points
6. Josiah Gray (WSH) - 5.0 GS - 115.43 JA Points
7. Trevor Rogers (MIA) - 4.0 GS - 114.76 JA Points
8. Johan Oviedo (PIT) - 5.0 GS - 113.01 JA Points
9. Zack Wheeler (PHI) - 5.0 GS - 112.69 JA Points
10. Patrick Sandoval (LAA) - 5.0 GS - 109.97 JA Points
Shane McClanahan's SL velo (14 pitches) DOWN -1.8mph to 86.8
Tyler Mahle's FF velo (35 pitches) DOWN -1.9mph to 91.0
Tyler Mahle's FS velo (17 pitches) DOWN -2.1mph to 83.2
Tyler Mahle's SL velo (13 pitches) DOWN -3.6mph to 80.6
Andrew Heaney's CH usage (29.9%) up 15.8 points
George Kirby's CU usage (31.5%) up 16.3 points
Gerrit Cole's FF usage (69.6%) up 15.5 points
JP Sears's ST usage (41.4%) up 12.7 points
Joey Lucchesi's FC usage (34.1%) up 15.5 points
Julio Urias's FF usage (55.2%) up 10.8 points
Zack Greinke's FC usage (22.7%) up 12.3 points
Shane McClanahan - 89 TBF, 39.0% CSW%
Zac Gallen - 91 TBF, 35.5% CSW%
Johan Oviedo - 104 TBF, 34.4% CSW%
Jose Berrios - 88 TBF, 33.5% CSW%
Joe Ryan - 99 TBF, 33.5% CSW%
Nathan Eovaldi - 96 TBF, 33.5% CSW%
Sonny Gray - 94 TBF, 33.3% CSW%
MacKenzie Gore - 90 TBF, 33.1% CSW%
Yu Darvish - 76 TBF, 33.0% CSW%
Hunter Greene - 83 TBF, 32.5% CSW%
Zac Gallen - 91 TBF, 44.0% K%
Kevin Gausman - 76 TBF, 35.5% K%
Sonny Gray - 94 TBF, 35.1% K%
Shohei Ohtani - 83 TBF, 33.7% K%
Shane McClanahan - 89 TBF, 33.7% K%
MacKenzie Gore - 90 TBF, 32.2% K%
Logan Gilbert - 90 TBF, 30.0% K%
Pablo Lopez - 77 TBF, 29.9% K%
Yusei Kikuchi - 88 TBF, 29.5% K%
Joe Ryan - 99 TBF, 29.3% K%
Zac Gallen - 91 TBF, 42.9% K-BB%
Kevin Gausman - 76 TBF, 32.9% K-BB%
Sonny Gray - 94 TBF, 27.7% K-BB%
Joe Ryan - 99 TBF, 27.3% K-BB%
Logan Gilbert - 90 TBF, 25.6% K-BB%
Pablo Lopez - 77 TBF, 24.7% K-BB%
Yusei Kikuchi - 88 TBF, 23.9% K-BB%
Drew Smyly - 84 TBF, 23.8% K-BB%
Shane McClanahan - 89 TBF, 23.6% K-BB%
Logan Webb - 103 TBF, 23.3% K-BB%
Framber Valdez - 81 TBF, 67.3% GB%
Kyle Wright - 79 TBF, 64.7% GB%
Logan Webb - 103 TBF, 63.9% GB%
Alex Cobb - 102 TBF, 62.0% GB%
Brad Keller - 85 TBF, 61.8% GB%
Jake Woodford - 87 TBF, 58.8% GB%
Edward Cabrera - 84 TBF, 58.3% GB%
Nick Martinez - 86 TBF, 58.1% GB%
Graham Ashcraft - 97 TBF, 57.8% GB%
Hunter Brown - 98 TBF, 57.4% GB%
Francisco Lindor (NYM) 5 PA, 8 Swings, 2 Barrels, 0 HR
Luke Raley (TB) 5 PA, 8 Swings, 2 Barrels, 1 HR
Paul Goldschmidt (STL) 5 PA, 11 Swings, 2 Barrels, 0 HR
Luke Raley, Yesterday: 114.3 Previous High: 113.5
1. Shohei Ohtani - 5.0 PA - 37.5 JA Points
2. Jake Burger - 4.0 PA - 35.0 JA Points
3. Brandon Nimmo - 5.0 PA - 33.0 JA Points
4. Christian Vazquez - 4.0 PA - 30.0 JA Points
5. Vinnie Pasquantino - 4.0 PA - 27.0 JA Points
6. Paul Goldschmidt - 5.0 PA - 25.5 JA Points
7. Luke Raley - 5.0 PA - 25.5 JA Points
8. Alec Burleson - 3.0 PA - 24.5 JA Points
9. Brandon Drury - 4.0 PA - 24.0 JA Points
10. Jose Trevino - 4.0 PA - 23.5 JA Points
1. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (TOR) - 112.0 PA - 43.75 JA Points
2. Jarred Kelenic (SEA) - 88.0 PA - 39.77 JA Points
3. Matt Chapman (TOR) - 101.0 PA - 37.62 JA Points
4. Paul Goldschmidt (STL) - 113.0 PA - 22.12 JA Points
5. Bryan Reynolds (PIT) - 103.0 PA - 20.97 JA Points
6. Kyle Tucker (HOU) - 106.0 PA - 16.79 JA Points
7. Bo Bichette (TOR) - 113.0 PA - 12.92 JA Points
8. Vinnie Pasquantino (KC) - 105.0 PA - 10.29 JA Points
9. Yandy Diaz (TB) - 108.0 PA - 9.81 JA Points
10. Ronald Acuna Jr. (ATL) - 121.0 PA - 7.93 JA Points
Luke Raley (TB) - 114.3mph - home_run
Oswald Peraza (NYY) - 112.6mph - nan
Bryan Reynolds (PIT) - 112.6mph - field_out
Gleyber Torres (NYY) - 111.0mph - home_run
Rodolfo Castro (PIT) - 110.7mph - home_run
Eloy Jimenez (CWS) - 110.5mph - force_out
Joey Gallo (MIN) - 110.4mph - double
Carlos Correa (MIN) - 110.1mph - home_run
Seiya Suzuki (CHC) - 110.0mph - double
Paul Goldschmidt (STL) - 109.9mph - field_out
Matt Chapman - 72 PA, 42 BIP, 14 Brls, 33.3 Brl%
Max Muncy - 61 PA, 33 BIP, 10 Brls, 30.3 Brl%
Brandon Lowe - 69 PA, 36 BIP, 10 Brls, 27.8 Brl%
Jake Burger - 57 PA, 30 BIP, 8 Brls, 26.7 Brl%
Sean Murphy - 77 PA, 44 BIP, 11 Brls, 25.0 Brl%
Jack Suwinski - 61 PA, 33 BIP, 8 Brls, 24.2 Brl%
Aaron Judge - 81 PA, 46 BIP, 11 Brls, 23.9 Brl%
Brent Rooker - 64 PA, 42 BIP, 10 Brls, 23.8 Brl%
Patrick Wisdom - 74 PA, 40 BIP, 9 Brls, 22.5 Brl%
Christian Bethancourt - 47 PA, 33 BIP, 7 Brls, 21.2 Brl%
Max Muncy - 61 PA, 0.498 xwOBA
Matt Chapman - 72 PA, 0.484 xwOBA
Jarred Kelenic - 72 PA, 0.48 xwOBA
Jonah Heim - 64 PA, 0.464 xwOBA
Brent Rooker - 64 PA, 0.461 xwOBA
Sean Murphy - 77 PA, 0.458 xwOBA
Christian Bethancourt - 47 PA, 0.434 xwOBA
Austin Hays - 67 PA, 0.432 xwOBA
Kyle Tucker - 76 PA, 0.429 xwOBA
Jack Suwinski - 61 PA, 0.429 xwOBA
Nico Hoerner - 90 PA, 142 Swings, 92.3 Cont%
Luis Arraez - 61 PA, 110 Swings, 91.8 Cont%
Keibert Ruiz - 66 PA, 111 Swings, 90.1 Cont%
Steven Kwan - 78 PA, 126 Swings, 89.7 Cont%
Alec Burleson - 65 PA, 111 Swings, 89.2 Cont%
Ke'Bryan Hayes - 82 PA, 132 Swings, 88.6 Cont%
Bryson Stott - 90 PA, 184 Swings, 87.0 Cont%
Mauricio Dubon - 77 PA, 147 Swings, 86.4 Cont%
Adley Rutschman - 85 PA, 135 Swings, 85.9 Cont%
Alec Bohm - 83 PA, 153 Swings, 85.6 Cont%
Thairo Estrada - 6 Attempts (6 steals)
Ronald Acuna Jr. - 6 Attempts (6 steals)
Esteury Ruiz - 6 Attempts (6 steals)
Ji Hwan Bae - 6 Attempts (5 steals)
Corbin Carroll - 5 Attempts (4 steals)
Jazz Chisholm Jr. - 5 Attempts (5 steals)
Ha-Seong Kim - 4 Attempts (3 steals)
Jack Suwinski - 4 Attempts (4 steals)
Shohei Ohtani - 4 Attempts (3 steals)
Wander Franco - 4 Attempts (2 steals)
Ezequiel Duran - 4 Attempts (2 steals)
J.T. Realmuto - 4 Attempts (3 steals)
Ronald Acuna Jr. - 15 Attempts (13 steals)
Nico Hoerner - 12 Attempts (10 steals)
Ji Hwan Bae - 11 Attempts (10 steals)
Jorge Mateo - 11 Attempts (10 steals)
Starling Marte - 11 Attempts (8 steals)
Corbin Carroll - 11 Attempts (10 steals)
Esteury Ruiz - 10 Attempts (10 steals)
Cedric Mullins - 10 Attempts (10 steals)
Jazz Chisholm Jr. - 10 Attempts (9 steals)
Gleyber Torres - 9 Attempts (5 steals)
Thairo Estrada - 8 Attempts (8 steals)
Julio Rodriguez - 8 Attempts (5 steals)
Anthony Volpe - 8 Attempts (8 steals)
Myles Straw - 8 Attempts (7 steals)
Steven Kwan - 8 Attempts (7 steals)
Wander Franco - 8 Attempts (5 steals)
Ronald Acuna Jr. - +5.2% Contact%, +6.6 mph exit velo, -6.7 Chase%
Nico Hoerner - +4.6% Contact%, +4.6 mph exit velo, -3.0 Chase%
Brandon Marsh - +11.0% Contact%, +5.8 mph exit velo, -5.0 Chase%
Akil Baddoo - +13.2% Contact%, +9.5 mph exit velo, -12.9 Chase%
Jason Heyward - +6.4% Contact%, +3.7 mph exit velo, -15.9 Chase%
Brandon Nimmo - 0.422 xwOBA, 10.9% Brl%, 78.3% Contact%, 12.5% Chase%, 16.1% K%
Cody Bellinger - 0.387 xwOBA, 12.5% Brl%, 79.5% Contact%, 23.2% Chase%, 13.3% K%
Ian Happ - 0.423 xwOBA, 11.1% Brl%, 76.8% Contact%, 17.9% Chase%, 22.2% K%
Jonah Heim - 0.505 xwOBA, 14.7% Brl%, 77.6% Contact%, 22.1% Chase%, 8.5% K%
Marcus Semien - 0.381 xwOBA, 10.3% Brl%, 79.6% Contact%, 14.8% Chase%, 16.4% K%
Ronald Acuna Jr. - 0.446 xwOBA, 11.4% Brl%, 82.8% Contact%, 23.8% Chase%, 11.9% K%
Yandy Diaz - 0.395 xwOBA, 13.3% Brl%, 81.7% Contact%, 24.4% Chase%, 17.5% K%
Brandon Crawford - 37.3% Whiff%, 78.3% Weak%, 0.954 Cold Rating
Nick Maton - 33.7% Whiff%, 83.9% Weak%, 0.938 Cold Rating
Eloy Jimenez - 40.2% Whiff%, 69.7% Weak%, 0.932 Cold Rating
MJ Melendez - 41.4% Whiff%, 69.2% Weak%, 0.924 Cold Rating
Luis Robert - 36.0% Whiff%, 73.3% Weak%, 0.924 Cold Rating
Dansby Swanson - 32.7% Whiff%, 80.6% Weak%, 0.909 Cold Rating
Jazz Chisholm - 40.4% Whiff%, 66.7% Weak%, 0.889 Cold Rating
David Villar - 43.5% Whiff%, 65.2% Weak%, 0.865 Cold Rating
Triston Casas - 32.5% Whiff%, 70.0% Weak%, 0.865 Cold Rating
Michael A. Taylor - 31.9% Whiff%, 69.6% Weak%, 0.848 Cold Rating
Jake Hager (ARI): 5/5, 6R, 1HR, 8RBI, 0SB, 52FPts
Christian Encarnacion-Strand (CIN): 5/6, 2R, 2HR, 6RBI, 0SB, 47FPts
Christopher Morel (CHC): 4/6, 4R, 2HR, 2RBI, 1SB, 43FPts
Alfonso Rivas (SD): 2/3, 4R, 2HR, 3RBI, 0SB, 38FPts
Zack Gelof (OAK): 3/3, 3R, 1HR, 4RBI, 0SB, 37FPts
Elly De La Cruz (CIN): 4/6, 3R, 0HR, 3RBI, 1SB, 36FPts
Bret Boswell (COL): 2/3, 3R, 1HR, 3RBI, 1SB, 36FPts
Elehuris Montero (COL): 3/4, 2R, 2HR, 3RBI, 0SB, 35FPts
Troy Johnston (MIA): 3/3, 3R, 2HR, 2RBI, 0SB, 35FPts
P.J. Higgins (ARI): 2/3, 5R, 1HR, 2RBI, 0SB, 33FPts
Rhett Kouba (HOU): 6IP, 1H, 1ER, 10K, 0BB, 34FPts
Evan Fitterer (MIA): 6IP, 1H, 0ER, 8K, 3BB, 31FPts
Cooper Criswell (TB): 7IP, 3H, 1ER, 7K, 1BB, 29FPts
Emerson Hancock (SEA): 5IP, 2H, 0ER, 8K, 2BB, 28FPts
Chih-Jung Liu (BOS): 5IP, 3H, 0ER, 8K, 1BB, 28FPts
Ben Brown (CHC): 5IP, 6H, 0ER, 8K, 0BB, 27FPts
Louie Varland (MIN): 5IP, 4H, 1ER, 8K, 2BB, 26FPts
Tekoah Roby (TEX): 5IP, 4H, 1ER, 8K, 1BB, 26FPts
Gavin Stone (LAD): 5IP, 3H, 1ER, 8K, 2BB, 26FPts
William Cuevas (LAD): 5IP, 1H, 0ER, 5K, 0BB, 24FPts
All of the really good stuff in the notes has been moved behind the paywall. For $7/month or $70/year, you will receive more detailed notes along with custom reports, dashboards, projections, and a ton more. 10% of your membership fees go directly to Samaritan’s Purse Charity.
Free samples
