Dynamic Standings Projection (August 14, 2013)
In case you missed it, in April we launched our Dynamic Standings Projection feature on New English D. A full explanation of the methodology can be found here or by clicking the tab at the top of the page. This project seeks to provide a reasoned and cautious approach to updating our beliefs about the baseball future. You can find a summarization of the original projections here. You’ll notice a column on the far right that indicates the difference in projected wins from the preseason prediction. Positive numbers mean teams are now projected to win more games and negative numbers mean a team is now projected to win fewer games. You’ll notice a series of graphs below the standings section that track how the projections have evolved over the course of the year.
This Dynamic Standings Projection is updated through the August 13 games.
| 14-Aug | W | L | PreDiff | |
| TB | 91 | 71 | 0.562 | 0 |
| BOS | 91 | 71 | 0.562 | 14 |
| BAL | 87 | 75 | 0.537 | 5 |
| NYY | 84 | 78 | 0.519 | -1 |
| TOR | 77 | 85 | 0.475 | -10 |
| W | L | PreDiff | ||
| DET | 95 | 67 | 0.586 | 1 |
| KC | 83 | 79 | 0.512 | 7 |
| CLE | 82 | 80 | 0.506 | 11 |
| MIN | 71 | 91 | 0.438 | 6 |
| CWS | 69 | 93 | 0.426 | -14 |
| W | L | PreDiff | ||
| TEX | 93 | 69 | 0.574 | 2 |
| OAK | 90 | 72 | 0.556 | 6 |
| LAA | 77 | 85 | 0.475 | -11 |
| SEA | 75 | 87 | 0.463 | 0 |
| HOU | 54 | 108 | 0.333 | -6 |
| W | L | PreDiff | ||
| ATL | 96 | 66 | 0.593 | 6 |
| WSH | 84 | 78 | 0.519 | -11 |
| NYM | 76 | 86 | 0.469 | -2 |
| PHI | 75 | 87 | 0.463 | -9 |
| MIA | 62 | 100 | 0.383 | -1 |
| W | L | PreDiff | ||
| STL | 92 | 70 | 0.568 | 4 |
| PIT | 92 | 70 | 0.568 | 10 |
| CIN | 91 | 71 | 0.562 | -1 |
| MIL | 73 | 89 | 0.451 | -6 |
| CHC | 70 | 92 | 0.432 | 2 |
| W | L | PreDiff | ||
| LAD | 92 | 70 | 0.568 | 4 |
| ARZ | 83 | 79 | 0.512 | 1 |
| SF | 77 | 85 | 0.475 | -14 |
| SD | 75 | 87 | 0.463 | -3 |
| COL | 72 | 90 | 0.444 | 9 |
How Was The Game? (August 13, 2013)
One you put on the manager.
White Sox 4, Tigers 3 (11 innings)
The Tigers took an early 1-0 lead on the Sox, but saw it vanish on one ill-conceived pitch from Max Scherzer (24 GS, 164.1 IP, 2.85 ERA, 2.70 FIP, 5.0 WAR) to Avi Garcia and then a strange defensive exchange between Infante and Cabrera that allowed Garcia to score behind the two men he knocked in. Scherzer was relatively comfortable other than those three runs as he finished with 6 innings, 4 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, and 6 strikeouts and looked fine aside from the nightmare play that resulted in 3 runs. The Tigers got men on base all night but took a long time to score them as they scratched across single runs in the 6th and 8th innings to tie, the latter thanks to some wonderful pinch running by Don Kelly. As this one went to extra innings, it was Jim Leyland’s time to give the game away as he called for multiple rally killing bunts and refused to use Joaquin Benoit in a tie game on the road because he was waiting for a save that wasn’t coming. It was the third extra inning game in the last week in which Leyland didn’t use Benoit, and the Tigers lost all three. Maybe they lose them anyway, but you have to give yourself a chance. They’ll try to salvage one on Wednesday behind Rick Porcello (21 GS, 125 IP, 4.32 ERA, 3.49 FIP, 2.3 WAR).
The Moment: Pena drives in Kelly to tie it in the 8th.
How Was The Game? (August 12, 2013)
A loss, but with one heck of an exclamation mark.
White Sox 6, Tigers 2
The Tigers got to Chris Sale for two early runs courtesy of a Cabrera bomb and a Pena double, but a 3 run 5th inning doomed Doug Fister (24 GS, 155 IP, 3.60 ERA, 3.34 FIP, 3.2 WAR) and the Tigers thanks to a couple of goofy plays and some poorly timed control issues from Fister. He didn’t pitched terribly, going 6 innings and allowing 4 runs, but after three strong innings to start the game he played in traffic for most of the night. The bats had a great chance to get to Sale in the 6th as Cabrera and Fielder hit back to back hard singles, but a FC by Martinez and a fly out to the wall in center by Tuiasosopo kept the Tigers from cashing in. The story, however, was a ridiculous play by Jose Iglesias. Here is a link to a video and here is a link to a GIF (h/t @Sporer). Below is a screen shot of the basic concept. It was stupid good.
The loss is the Tigers 3rd in the last 4 games, but after a stretch where they won 16 of 17, one can’t be too upset. They’ll turn around and send Max Scherzer (23 GS, 158.1 IP, 2.84 ERA, 2.69 FIP, 4.8 WAR) to the mound for game two on Tuesday.
The Moment: Jose Iglesias does something that the author has a difficult time describing.
Victor Martinez’s 2013 Season Explained Graphically
We’re all pretty clear on the basic structure of Victor Martinez’s 2013 season. His numbers were bad during the first few months and then he started having excellent numbers and now his season long stats are all pretty solid. I argued earlier this season that Martinez was getting supremely unlucky and those claims were supported when Martinez started crushing it.
I’d like to update you on his pace with a few graphics. I don’t have any crack analysis because I’ve already done that part. His numbers were bad, I told you why. His numbers got better, I told you why. Now I just want to show you a full picture with a few graphics. Enjoy!
First we have his average, on base, and slugging percentage at the end of every game. Since above game 70, he’s been incredible and pulled out of his early season slide:
If you drop a line at game 70 and split the numbers, he was not very good beforehand and is a borderline MVP after. The cutoff is arbitrary, but there are more than 200 PA on each side. Let’s check out his monthly splits by OPS, wOBA (what’s wOBA?), and wRC+ (what’s wRC+?).
Like I said in the first citation, his bad luck on hard hit balls is regressing amazingly to the mean in his batting average on balls in play (what’s BABIP?). I drew in his career average to show exactly how amazing it is. Perfect balance:
Martinez was having bad luck and now he’s not anymore. The two links at the top of the post break it down and these graphs sum it up. Martinez was having a lousy season as far as results went, but then the hits started to fall and he’s come racing back. We always knew they would because he’s been near the top of the hard hit average leaderboard and stands at 6th in MLB entering the day. He’s now having an above average season overall (102 wRC+) and is still on the rise.
How Was The Game? (August 11, 2013)
Something you’re not going to believe.
Yankees 5, Tigers 4
It’s unclear where to start, so let’s just lay it all out. Justin Verlander (25 GS, 158.2 IP, 3.57 ERA, 3.40 FIP, 3.5 WAR) gave up 4 runs in 7 innings, but had a very nice afternoon courtesy of a good fastball and excellent curveball that yielding just 1 walk and induced 9 strikeouts. Verlander gave up two solo homeruns which barely cleared the short fences at Yankee Stadium and would have been easy outs in more parks, so I certainly won’t hold that against him when attempting to discern performance from statistics. The signs were all good regarding his road back to dominance as his average fastball registered 95.3 mph and his release point was in line with his most recent start.
The bats failed the Tigers early as they left a ton of men on base and gave away outs at inopportune times, but things turned late. It didn’t help that Iglesias was called out at 2B in the 8th when he was clearly safe or that Jackson made a boneheaded mistake in thinking Garder dropped a ball in the next at bat but a Pena homer to lead off the 8th and a Cabrera homerun off Rivera in the 9th to make it a one run game set up a huge bomb by Martinez to tie it against Rivera for the second time this weekend. It was a great comeback, but it was for naught as Gardner walked off in the 9th. The Tigers will head to the Windy city for a three game set against the Sox with Doug Fister (23 GS, 149 IP, 3.50 ERA, 3.30 FIP, 3.2 WAR) getting the ball on Monday.
The Moment: Cabrera and Martinez launch homers in the 9th to stun Rivera.
SOEFA Sunday: Reliever Rankings Update (August 11, 2013)
You’ll recall earlier this year we introduced our very own reliever rankings called SOEFA, which you can read about in detail here. For a brief refresher, it combines inherited runner strand rate, expected OBP against, ERA-, and FIP- into a deviation from league average. This is a measure of performance, not necessarily ability, and seeks to provide a single number to judge relievers that balances context neutral and context dependent numbers. Certain pitchers, such as Craig Kimbrel, cannot be credited for stranding runners because they are never put into those situations. They are not penalized either, however. Zero is average, and will generally range between -2.5 to 2.5 with -1 to 1 being most common. This includes all pitchers who have thrown at least 20 IP in relief as of this morning, so the average score on this list is closer to 0.11. Should you wish to know the SOEFA for any other reliever, or on a day that isn’t Sunday, hit us on Twitter or in the comments section.
| Rank | Player | Team | SOEFA |
| 1 | Carlos Torres | Mets | 1.14 |
| 2 | Neal Cotts | Rangers | 0.99 |
| 3 | Drew Smyly | Tigers | 0.97 |
| 4 | Alex Torres | Rays | 0.95 |
| 5 | Greg Holland | Royals | 0.91 |
| 6 | Kenley Jansen | Dodgers | 0.90 |
| 7 | Joaquin Benoit | Tigers | 0.82 |
| 8 | Mark Melancon | Pirates | 0.81 |
| 9 | Nick Vincent | Padres | 0.79 |
| 10 | Casey Fien | Twins | 0.78 |
| 11 | Jesse Crain | White Sox | 0.78 |
| 12 | Koji Uehara | Red Sox | 0.76 |
| 13 | Jordan Walden | Braves | 0.72 |
| 14 | Craig Kimbrel | Braves | 0.71 |
| 15 | Jose Veras | – – – | 0.71 |
| 16 | Kevin Siegrist | Cardinals | 0.71 |
| 17 | Jason Grilli | Pirates | 0.71 |
| 18 | Edward Mujica | Cardinals | 0.68 |
| 19 | Joe Thatcher | – – – | 0.67 |
| 20 | Sean Doolittle | Athletics | 0.67 |
| 21 | Casey Janssen | Blue Jays | 0.66 |
| 22 | David Robertson | Yankees | 0.65 |
| 23 | Javier Lopez | Giants | 0.64 |
| 24 | Will Harris | Diamondbacks | 0.64 |
| 25 | Sergio Romo | Giants | 0.63 |
| 26 | Shawn Kelley | Yankees | 0.62 |
| 27 | Glen Perkins | Twins | 0.59 |
| 28 | Sam LeCure | Reds | 0.58 |
| 29 | Jim Henderson | Brewers | 0.56 |
| 30 | Brandon Kintzler | Brewers | 0.56 |
| 31 | Manny Parra | Reds | 0.54 |
| 32 | Brian Matusz | Orioles | 0.54 |
| 33 | Dan Otero | Athletics | 0.52 |
| 34 | Andrew Bailey | Red Sox | 0.52 |
| 35 | Matt Belisle | Rockies | 0.52 |
| 36 | Luke Hochevar | Royals | 0.51 |
| 37 | Darren O’Day | Orioles | 0.51 |
| 38 | Juan Perez | Blue Jays | 0.51 |
| 39 | Trevor Rosenthal | Cardinals | 0.50 |
| 40 | Boone Logan | Yankees | 0.50 |
| 41 | Paco Rodriguez | Dodgers | 0.49 |
| 42 | Preston Claiborne | Yankees | 0.49 |
| 43 | Antonio Bastardo | Phillies | 0.49 |
| 44 | Seth Maness | Cardinals | 0.49 |
| 45 | Junichi Tazawa | Red Sox | 0.48 |
| 46 | Tommy Hunter | Orioles | 0.48 |
| 47 | Brett Cecil | Blue Jays | 0.47 |
| 48 | David Carpenter | Braves | 0.47 |
| 49 | Andrew Miller | Red Sox | 0.47 |
| 50 | Ryan Cook | Athletics | 0.45 |
| 51 | Brad Ziegler | Diamondbacks | 0.44 |
| 52 | Bobby Parnell | Mets | 0.44 |
| 53 | Joel Peralta | Rays | 0.44 |
| 54 | J.P. Howell | Dodgers | 0.44 |
| 55 | Matt Reynolds | Diamondbacks | 0.42 |
| 56 | Scott Downs | – – – | 0.41 |
| 57 | Chad Gaudin | Giants | 0.41 |
| 58 | Robbie Ross | Rangers | 0.41 |
| 59 | Randy Choate | Cardinals | 0.40 |
| 60 | Caleb Thielbar | Twins | 0.39 |
| 61 | Luis Avilan | Braves | 0.38 |
| 62 | Jason Frasor | Rangers | 0.38 |
| 63 | Aroldis Chapman | Reds | 0.36 |
| 64 | Vin Mazzaro | Pirates | 0.36 |
| 65 | Addison Reed | White Sox | 0.36 |
| 66 | Dale Thayer | Padres | 0.35 |
| 67 | Josh Collmenter | Diamondbacks | 0.35 |
| 68 | Jonathan Papelbon | Phillies | 0.34 |
| 69 | Tom Gorzelanny | Brewers | 0.34 |
| 70 | Sandy Rosario | Giants | 0.34 |
| 71 | Josh Outman | Rockies | 0.32 |
| 72 | Oliver Perez | Mariners | 0.32 |
| 73 | Tanner Scheppers | Rangers | 0.32 |
| 74 | Fernando Abad | Nationals | 0.32 |
| 75 | Jared Burton | Twins | 0.31 |
| 76 | Nate Jones | White Sox | 0.31 |
| 77 | Chad Qualls | Marlins | 0.31 |
| 78 | Dan Jennings | Marlins | 0.30 |
| 79 | Alfredo Figaro | Brewers | 0.30 |
| 80 | Francisco Rodriguez | – – – | 0.30 |
| 81 | J.C. Gutierrez | – – – | 0.30 |
| 82 | Tyler Clippard | Nationals | 0.29 |
| 83 | Alfredo Simon | Reds | 0.29 |
| 84 | Steve Delabar | Blue Jays | 0.28 |
| 85 | Steve Cishek | Marlins | 0.27 |
| 86 | Heath Bell | Diamondbacks | 0.27 |
| 87 | Tony Watson | Pirates | 0.26 |
| 88 | Rafael Betancourt | Rockies | 0.25 |
| 89 | Santiago Casilla | Giants | 0.25 |
| 90 | Jerome Williams | Angels | 0.25 |
| 91 | J.J. Hoover | Reds | 0.24 |
| 92 | Rafael Soriano | Nationals | 0.24 |
| 93 | Kevin Gregg | Cubs | 0.24 |
| 94 | Neil Wagner | Blue Jays | 0.24 |
| 95 | Craig Breslow | Red Sox | 0.23 |
| 96 | Cody Allen | Indians | 0.22 |
| 97 | Jim Johnson | Orioles | 0.21 |
| 98 | Jose Mijares | Giants | 0.20 |
| 99 | Tim Collins | Royals | 0.20 |
| 100 | Luke Gregerson | Padres | 0.19 |
| 101 | James Russell | Cubs | 0.19 |
| 102 | Aaron Loup | Blue Jays | 0.18 |
| 103 | Pat Neshek | Athletics | 0.16 |
| 104 | Aaron Crow | Royals | 0.15 |
| 105 | Matt Thornton | – – – | 0.15 |
| 106 | Jamey Wright | Rays | 0.15 |
| 107 | Michael Kohn | Angels | 0.15 |
| 108 | Danny Farquhar | Mariners | 0.15 |
| 109 | David Aardsma | Mets | 0.14 |
| 110 | Jean Machi | Giants | 0.14 |
| 111 | Rex Brothers | Rockies | 0.13 |
| 112 | Kevin Jepsen | Angels | 0.12 |
| 113 | Jeanmar Gomez | Pirates | 0.12 |
| 114 | Anthony Varvaro | Braves | 0.12 |
| 115 | Mike Dunn | Marlins | 0.12 |
| 116 | Bryan Morris | Pirates | 0.11 |
| 117 | LaTroy Hawkins | Mets | 0.11 |
| 118 | Darren Oliver | Blue Jays | 0.10 |
| 119 | Justin Wilson | Pirates | 0.10 |
| 120 | Ross Wolf | Rangers | 0.10 |
| 121 | Charlie Furbush | Mariners | 0.10 |
| 122 | Yoervis Medina | Mariners | 0.08 |
| 123 | Anthony Swarzak | Twins | 0.08 |
| 124 | Joe Smith | Indians | 0.08 |
| 125 | Mariano Rivera | Yankees | 0.07 |
| 126 | Ernesto Frieri | Angels | 0.06 |
| 127 | Adam Ottavino | Rockies | 0.06 |
| 128 | Joe Kelly | Cardinals | 0.06 |
| 129 | Wilton Lopez | Rockies | 0.05 |
| 130 | Craig Stammen | Nationals | 0.04 |
| 131 | Tyson Ross | Padres | 0.04 |
| 132 | J.J. Putz | Diamondbacks | 0.04 |
| 133 | Burke Badenhop | Brewers | 0.04 |
| 134 | Bryan Shaw | Indians | 0.04 |
| 135 | A.J. Ramos | Marlins | 0.04 |
| 136 | Jesse Chavez | Athletics | 0.04 |
| 137 | Carter Capps | Mariners | 0.02 |
| 138 | Fernando Rodney | Rays | 0.02 |
| 139 | Joe Nathan | Rangers | 0.01 |
| 140 | Dane de la Rosa | Angels | 0.01 |
| 141 | Matt Guerrier | – – – | 0.00 |
| 142 | Scott Rice | Mets | 0.00 |
| 143 | Cesar Ramos | Rays | 0.00 |
| 144 | Ryan Webb | Marlins | 0.00 |
| 145 | Josh Edgin | Mets | -0.01 |
| 146 | Jared Hughes | Pirates | -0.02 |
| 147 | Ryan Pressly | Twins | -0.03 |
| 148 | Joe Ortiz | Rangers | -0.04 |
| 149 | Brian Duensing | Twins | -0.06 |
| 150 | Troy Patton | Orioles | -0.06 |
| 151 | Edgmer Escalona | Rockies | -0.06 |
| 152 | Blake Parker | Cubs | -0.06 |
| 153 | Matt Lindstrom | White Sox | -0.06 |
| 154 | Chris Perez | Indians | -0.07 |
| 155 | Jerry Blevins | Athletics | -0.07 |
| 156 | Rich Hill | Indians | -0.08 |
| 157 | Greg Burke | Mets | -0.09 |
| 158 | Jake Diekman | Phillies | -0.09 |
| 159 | Brad Lincoln | Blue Jays | -0.09 |
| 160 | Brad Brach | Padres | -0.10 |
| 161 | Tony Sipp | Diamondbacks | -0.10 |
| 162 | Darin Downs | Tigers | -0.11 |
| 163 | Josh Roenicke | Twins | -0.12 |
| 164 | Logan Ondrusek | Reds | -0.13 |
| 165 | Ross Ohlendorf | Nationals | -0.14 |
| 166 | Phil Coke | Tigers | -0.15 |
| 167 | Luke Putkonen | Tigers | -0.17 |
| 168 | Tim Stauffer | Padres | -0.18 |
| 169 | Jake McGee | Rays | -0.18 |
| 170 | Wesley Wright | Astros | -0.19 |
| 171 | Cory Gearrin | Braves | -0.19 |
| 172 | Ronald Belisario | Dodgers | -0.20 |
| 173 | Nick Hagadone | Indians | -0.21 |
| 174 | Jonathan Broxton | Reds | -0.21 |
| 175 | Ian Krol | Nationals | -0.21 |
| 176 | Ramon Troncoso | White Sox | -0.21 |
| 177 | Huston Street | Padres | -0.22 |
| 178 | Manuel Corpas | Rockies | -0.24 |
| 179 | Ryan Mattheus | Nationals | -0.25 |
| 180 | Kelvin Herrera | Royals | -0.25 |
| 181 | Vinnie Pestano | Indians | -0.26 |
| 182 | Blake Beavan | Mariners | -0.27 |
| 183 | Grant Balfour | Athletics | -0.27 |
| 184 | Tom Wilhelmsen | Mariners | -0.29 |
| 185 | Michael Gonzalez | Brewers | -0.29 |
| 186 | John Axford | Brewers | -0.30 |
| 187 | Raul Valdes | Phillies | -0.30 |
| 188 | Garrett Richards | Angels | -0.30 |
| 189 | Fernando Salas | Cardinals | -0.33 |
| 190 | Scott Atchison | Mets | -0.34 |
| 191 | T.J. McFarland | Orioles | -0.35 |
| 192 | David Hernandez | Diamondbacks | -0.35 |
| 193 | Pedro Strop | – – – | -0.36 |
| 194 | Drew Storen | Nationals | -0.36 |
| 195 | Paul Clemens | Astros | -0.36 |
| 196 | George Kontos | Giants | -0.36 |
| 197 | Michael Bowden | Cubs | -0.37 |
| 198 | Kyle Farnsworth | Rays | -0.38 |
| 199 | Matt Albers | Indians | -0.38 |
| 200 | Joba Chamberlain | Yankees | -0.38 |
| 201 | Al Alburquerque | Tigers | -0.39 |
| 202 | Mike Adams | Phillies | -0.40 |
| 203 | Clayton Mortensen | Red Sox | -0.41 |
| 204 | Justin De Fratus | Phillies | -0.43 |
| 205 | Travis Blackley | Astros | -0.44 |
| 206 | Alex Wilson | Red Sox | -0.45 |
| 207 | Dallas Keuchel | Astros | -0.48 |
| 208 | Brandon Lyon | Mets | -0.49 |
| 209 | Esmil Rogers | Blue Jays | -0.49 |
| 210 | Bruce Chen | Royals | -0.54 |
| 211 | Jose Cisnero | Astros | -0.57 |
| 212 | Jeremy Horst | Phillies | -0.60 |
| 213 | Hector Ambriz | Astros | -0.62 |
| 214 | Jeremy Affeldt | Giants | -0.65 |
| 215 | Josh Fields | Astros | -0.66 |
| 216 | Lucas Luetge | Mariners | -0.66 |
| 217 | Adam Warren | Yankees | -0.68 |
| 218 | Henry Rodriguez | – – – | -0.71 |
| 219 | Michael Kirkman | Rangers | -0.73 |
| 220 | Carlos Marmol | – – – | -0.81 |
| 221 | Hector Rondon | Cubs | -0.82 |
| 222 | Brandon League | Dodgers | -0.88 |
| 223 | Anthony Bass | Padres | -0.91 |
| 224 | Shawn Camp | Cubs | -1.04 |
More Exciting News From New English D
So I know we just went through this three days ago, but I’m excited to announce that I’ve joined Gammons Daily as a regular contributor, which is a site surrounding Peter Gammons’ baseball writing and devoted to unfiltered analysis from some of the country’s best. It’s only a couple weeks old and is a partnership between Gammons and TruMedia that should eventually feature some of their analytic tools. I’ll be writing there once or twice a week in addition to my weekly work at Beyond The Box Score. Like I said on Thursday, none of New English D’s Tigers coverage will be affected and you’ll only notice a slight reduction in MLB coverage here to accommodate the transition.
I hope you’ll check out Gammons Daily, follow my work around the web, and continue to engage with me on Twitter. Check out my first piece for the site, on the Tigers own Max Scherzer.
How Was The Game? (August 10, 2013)
Another breezy win.
Tigers 9, Yankees 3
After surrendering their 12 game winning streak on Friday in extra innings, the Tigers handled the Yankees easily on Saturday. They won the war on both fronts as Anibal Sanchez (20 GS, 125.2 IP, 2.58 ERA, 2.41 FIP, 4.2 WAR) was excellent across 7 innings (4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K) and the bats sent Hughes to the showers early. The Tigers first three hitters all homered during the game and 5 players reached base at least twice. Jackson stayed hot, Cabrera stayed hot, and Hunter, Kelly, and Iglesias also did things that improved the team’s chances of winning. It was never really in doubt as the Tigers won their 17th game in their last 19 tries and improved to 69-46 on the season. They will look to take the series on Sunday with the newly himself Justin Verlander (24 GS, 151.2 IP, 3.50 ERA, 3.33 FIP, 3.5 WAR), who lowered his ERA between starts thanks to a scoring change.
The Moment: Cabrera turned on a Hughes pitch and sent it out to left field.
The Nine Best Baseball People To Follow On Twitter
The headline covers most of what the following post will be. But I’ll make a few quick points. Baseball is fun and it’s a lot of fun to follow along and interact with people on Twitter about it. The following list has a few rules. First, these are not people you follow for news. Ken Rosenthal breaks lots of stories, but this list is about people who you follow because of their interesting commentary, not their ability as a reporter. Current players are also not eligible. Second, the account doesn’t have to reflect a person but it can’t be an entity like MLB or ESPN. Three, I’m not listing anyone I have a professional affiliation with. It wouldn’t really matter because this is a fun list and I can’t imagine anyone finding a way to profit from this, but it just felt more ethical. Finally, these accounts are being judged only by baseball tweeting. No points for your literature or food tweeting. Both quality and quantity are considered. Just like “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” everything is made up and the points don’t matter.
Honorable Mention. Batting Stance Guy
On the list for humor. I don’t follow him, but got some recommendations to put him on the list and I’m all about listening:
9. Keith Law
Law is pretty popular for his “snark” and hilarious ability to retweet people who don’t know the difference between your and you’re, but he’s worth a follow because he provides solid baseball commentary in most cases and it well informed on prospects. Mostly, his invention of #umpshow is reason enough.
https://twitter.com/keithlaw/status/364934374589870080
8. Heard on MLB Tonight
This is the designated Twitter account for pointing out hilariously off base baseball commentary.
https://twitter.com/HeardOnMLBT/status/365209714885271552
7. MLB Fake Rumors
This is a great play on MLB Trade Rumors. Their only failure is that they don’t tweet often enough.
6. Mark Simon
Simon posts a ton of statistical breakdowns and tidbits and is great about looking into advanced data for followers.
5. Dave Cameron
Cameron is the managing editor of FanGraphs and is just an excellent baseball analyst.
4. Can Predict Ball
These guys tweet when something hilariously predictable happens. Must follow.
3. Brian Kenny
Kenny is the mainstream media’s sabermetric champion and does a nice job providing commentary and taking people to task for not opening their minds.
https://twitter.com/MrBrianKenny/status/365670704982671360
2. Jeff Sullivan
Sullivan makes excellent observations about baseball, but is also supremely funny and always tweets what I’m thinking about national writers who tweet silly rumors.
1. You Can’t Predict Ball
They tweet when unpredictable things happen, which is just about the best thing about baseball.
How Was The Game? (August 9, 2013)
The end of a great run.
Yankees 4, Tigers 3 (10 innings)
It had to end sometime. Logic dictated that. You can’t win every game and the longer your streak goes the more improbable it gets. After 12 straight victories and a figurative funeral for the rest of the division, the Tigers finally lost on Friday. Rick Porcello (21 GS, 125 IP, 4.32 ERA, 3.49 FIP, 2.3 WAR) was solid, and a Robinson Cano double on a pretty good changeup was the difference between a very good start and a pretty good one. He only went 5 innings but struck out 6, walked 2, and surrendered 3 runs. On most nights, that’s good enough for the Tigers offense but Ivan Nova escaped a few jams against the Tigers, who only cashed in with the starter in the game during the 7th inning on a Cabrera single. Jackson had a good night, but the Tigers simply didn’t get hits with men on base, which is going to happen from time to time and especially when you’ve just completed the type of run the Tigers went on. It got extremely interesting, however, when Miguel Cabrera launched a 2 out, 2 run, game-tying homerun to dead center off Rivera and sent the game into extras. Despite the amazing turn of events, the Yankees rallied against Alburquerque in the 10th while Benoit sat alone in the bullpen waiting for a save that would never come. The streak is over, but the Tigers have still won 16 of their last 18 games and saw the Indians fall on the out of town scoreboard so they will remain 7 up in the Central with 48 to play. They’ll play a matinee at Yankee Stadium with Anibal Sanchez (19 GS, 118.2 IP, 2.58 ERA, 2.37 FIP, 4.1 WAR) on the bump.
The Moment: Cabrera hits a game tying homerun with two outs in the 9th against Mariano Rivera
New English D 