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A group baseball blog by fans of the Effectively Wild podcast
Monday, March 27, 2023

Columns/Features

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

The Really Simple Reason Pablo Sandoval Made More Money Than Chase Headley Will

by Matthew Trueblood | November 26th, 2014

Pablo Sandoval signed a five-year, $95-million contract with the Boston Red Sox Monday, making him, in all likelihood, the highest-paid free-agent position player of the winter. He’s a solid player, but given his body type,… Read more »

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

Jon Lester: How the Hottest Free Agent Arm on the Market Got That Way

by Matthew Trueblood | November 26th, 2014

You’re going to be talking to your brother-in-law about Jon Lester on Thursday. I might be wrong about that, but if you’re reading this, odds are you’re a baseball fan, and if you’re a baseball… Read more »

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

Tyrell Jenkins: The Key to the Jason Heyward Trade?

by Matthew Trueblood | November 24th, 2014

Note: Beginning sometime early in December, my new home will be banishedtothepen.com. It’s a collective of listeners to Effectively Wild: The Baseball Prospectus Daily Podcast, who want to put our own thoughts out there for… Read more »

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

When There’s Blood on the Street: Adam LaRoche Signs With Chicago White Sox

by Matthew Trueblood | November 24th, 2014

Note: Beginning sometime early in December, my new home will be banishedtothepen.com. It’s a collective of listeners to Effectively Wild: The Baseball Prospectus Daily Podcast, who want to put our own thoughts out there for… Read more »

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

Violent Variance: Why The Red Sox Want Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval (UPDATED)

by Matthew Trueblood | November 24th, 2014

Note: Beginning sometime early in December, my new home will be banishedtothepen.com. It’s a collective of listeners to Effectively Wild: The Baseball Prospectus Daily Podcast, who want to put our own thoughts out there for… Read more »

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

In a Market Stacked Against Him, Francisco Liriano Will Be the Winter’s Best Bet

by Matthew Trueblood | November 20th, 2014

Francisco Liriano has fanned 24.7 percent of all the batters he has faced since the start of 2012. In none of the three seasons did he strike out fewer than 24 percent, and in none… Read more »

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

Jason Heyward, Positional Value, Platoon Splits and BABIP in the Modern Age

by Matthew Trueblood | November 19th, 2014

Catchers, second basemen, shortstops and center fielders are hitting better than they have in at least 50 years, relative to the total offensive production in Major League Baseball, according to Baseball-Reference.com and its Play Index…. Read more »

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

Jason Heyward Goes Westward, Braves Voluntarily Go Backward (For Now)

by Matthew Trueblood | November 18th, 2014

The Atlanta Braves had a .305 team on-base percentage in 2014. They badly needed to find and add some players this winter who would ameliorate that issue, and in particular, they needed left-handed batters, guys… Read more »

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

Fortunate Cubs Can Now Shift Focus from Martin to Montero

by Matthew Trueblood | November 17th, 2014

Russell Martin agreed a five-year, $82-million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays Monday, putting a neat bow on a very quick foray into free agency for Martin. The runners-up for his services (and, by unsubstantiated… Read more »

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

Kvetching Up: Victor Martinez, Anthony Gose, Giancarlo Stanton

by Matthew Trueblood | November 17th, 2014

Occasionally, MLB teams make moves that not even I feel like analyzing in 1,000-plus words. A few moves over the past several days have caught my eye, but haven’t grown into ideas so grand that I wanted… Read more »

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

Cubs Land La Stella, Braves Buy Back Vizcaino: Somebody Has the Next Move in Mind

by Matthew Trueblood | November 17th, 2014

The Chicago Cubs traded relief pitcher Arodys Vizcaino to the Atlanta Braves for second baseman Tommy La Stella Sunday. Vizcaino took a very long time to get healthy after Tommy John surgery in 2012, and… Read more »

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

A Response to Jerry Green, Line By Line

by Matthew Trueblood | November 16th, 2014

I like to think, generally, that I’m above a line-by-line takedown of a foolish, obsolete blowhard raging against the light’s refusal to die with him. I’ve started such things in the past, and have always… Read more »

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

Fun With Run Distributions

by Matthew Trueblood | November 12th, 2014

I’m fascinated by teams’ distributions of runs scored. I check it out every year, follow closely certain trivial tidbits (the Twins tied the record for times scoring exactly four runs in a season, with 35;… Read more »

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

Why It Is Never, Ever Correct to Pay for the Right to Extend in Trade Negotiations

by Matthew Trueblood | November 11th, 2014

There was a report on Tuesday night that the Chicago Cubs were “in talks to acquire” Jordan Zimmermann from the Washington Nationals. The report cited no sources by name, did not identify the players Chicago… Read more »

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

Joe Mauer Must Adapt in Order to Remain Useful

by Matthew Trueblood | November 11th, 2014

In 2014, Joe Mauer pulled nine percent of his fly balls, according to StatCorner. That was the lowest figure in MLB. The second-lowest figure was 12.3 percent. In fact, that 2014 figure for Mauer is… Read more »

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

Michael Cuddyer Leverages Qualifying Offer, Gets Two-Year Deal from Foolish Mets

by Matthew Trueblood | November 11th, 2014

Michael Cuddyer signed a two-year, $21-million deal with the New York Mets Monday, a few hours before the deadline at which he would have needed to formally accept or reject the one-year, $15.3-million qualifying offer… Read more »

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

Quadruple-A Hitters: A Possible, Partial, Oversimplified Answer to an Old Question

by Matthew Trueblood | November 7th, 2014

Each promotion a professional baseball player receives has enormous risk attached to it. Each rung of the ladder is a little farther a reach than the one before it. By the time a player is… Read more »

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

Maddness: What the Cubs Have Done, What it Means, and What He Offers

by Matthew Trueblood | November 6th, 2014

With Joe Maddon officially installed as the new manager of the Cubs, I want to take a minute to go over just what sort of doors he opens for the team in 2015. How He… Read more »

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

Should Ervin Santana Take the Qualifying Offer This Time?

by Matthew Trueblood | November 5th, 2014

Last winter, Ervin Santana hit some mitigated imitation of free agency, coming off a terrific season with the Kansas City Royals. He’d thrown 211 innings and posted a 3.24 ERA. At 30 years old, he’d… Read more »

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

RUN!!!

by Matthew Trueblood | October 30th, 2014

On the last night of the Bud Selig era, I completed my metamorphosis into the kind of fan he sought to create. As the ball leaped off Alex Gordon’s bat, bounded to Gregor Blanco and… Read more »

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

All Hands: How I would Manage the Game 7 Pitching Staffs

by Matthew Trueblood | October 29th, 2014

You may not think Jeremy Guthrie and Tim Hudson amount to appointment television. You may not harbor warm feelings for the chaos that produced a World Series between two sub-90-win teams. You can’t deny, though,… Read more »

Arm Side Run, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

World Series Game 6: Jake Peavy Faces His Greatest Fear, Aims for Greatest Feat

by Matthew Trueblood | October 28th, 2014

The Royals own Jake Peavy. Look, I know that’s a sabermetrically controversial statement, and I don’t suggest that it’s provably or predictively true, in some macro way, but certain Royals have hit Jake Peavy very… Read more »

Columns/Features, Teach Him a Cutter!

What’s Up With Chris Davis?

by Matthew Trueblood | July 25th, 2014

In 2013, at age 27, Chris Davis created 142.8 runs for the Baltimore Orioles, according to Baseball-Reference. That was a shockingly good number. In fact, it’s the 14th-highest number posted by any age-27 player since… Read more »

A Balanced Schedule, Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

Jose Fernandez is Hurt, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Tommy John

by Matthew Trueblood | May 13th, 2014

Jose Fernandez is hurt, and Baseball Twitter is in tears. Jose Fernandez is hurt, and the Miami Marlins’ hope of contending this season is gone. Jose Fernandez is hurt, and everyone is sad. Except me. Honestly, I’ve felt… Read more »

Columns/Features, Miscellaneous

One-Hop Rockets: Nick Markakis’s Approach, Dee Gordon’s Speed, Starlin Castro’s Lower Half

by Matthew Trueblood | May 9th, 2014

As is my wont, I’m giving Friday over to some rapid-fire observations and notes, from all over the place: Every batter’s optimal plate approach is different. Some guys should swing much more often, especially in… Read more »

Columns/Features

MLB Power Rankings, May 8: A Word Per Game Played

by Matthew Trueblood | May 8th, 2014

By now, you know the drill. These are my weekly power rankings, my best estimate of the relative strength of all 30 teams (NOT their playoff chances, mind you, but their actual, bedrock quality). The… Read more »

Columns/Features, Miscellaneous, Teach Him a Cutter!

Edwin Jackson on a Good Night

by Matthew Trueblood | May 7th, 2014

The life of a two-pitch starting pitcher is a difficult one. If either of your go-to offerings isn’t working on a given night, you’re in deep trouble, trying to pitch around a fundamental weakness and… Read more »

Columns/Features, Teach Him a Cutter!

Why Mike Olt is So Awful

by Matthew Trueblood | May 5th, 2014

Mike Olt was one of the dozen best prospects in baseball, then a bust, then a great recovery story. Now, he’s in danger of washing out of baseball.

Columns/Features, Teach Him a Cutter!

The Degenerate Diamondbacks Rotation

by Matthew Trueblood | May 3rd, 2014

The worst starting rotation in baseball is that of the Diamondbacks, but their ineptitude doesn’t show up early in starts.

Columns/Features

Choose Your Own Adventure: The Baseball Apocalypse

by Matthew Trueblood | May 2nd, 2014

“I hope you’re happy, everyone. You’ve used up all the baseball. Like Social Security and gasoline, baseball will be dried up and gone before you retire, before your kids graduate high school.” Keith Olbermann glowers at you… Read more »

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