Harrison Bader- April 27, 2025 5% catch probability per Baseball Savant (3% success rate)

Harrison Bader is unlikely to repeat his batting line from last season, but this is a needed defensive upgrade in CF for the Giants. In 2025, Giants CF were dead last in baseball in DRS, 28/30 in FRV, and 29/30 in DRP (Baseball Prospectus). Bader in OF spots in 2025: DRS- +13 FRV- +5 DRP- +1.4

MLB released Gold Glove predictions today! I agree with almost all of them, only vary on NL LF and maybe AL 1B. And I'm pretty sure Andrés Giménez isn't eligible at AL 2B (not enough innings through 138 team games), but they have him winning. www.mlb.com/astros/news/...

Aaron Boone continues his meteoric rise up the career manager ejection leaderboard! With #43 yesterday, he is now tied with Joe Girardi. Legendary names ahead!

Pete Crow-Armstrong is up to 13 five-star catches this season, with no other outfielder having more than six! After the recent recalibration of difficult plays, the season record for five-star grabs is 17 by Byron Buxton in 2017.

Rich Hill is more than nine years older than Madison Bumgarner.

Umpires With The Highest Batter OPS 1) Clint Vondrak (.798) 2) Brock Ballou (.788) 3) Chad Whitson (.783) 4) Chris Conroy (.783) 5) Jim Wolf (.770) 6) Mike Muchlinski (.765) 7) Laz Diaz (.763) 8) Tripp Gibson (.760) 9) Andy Fletcher (.760) 10) Doug Eddings (.759)

From today's @baseball_ref faces: Ron Hunt led the league in times hit by pitch SEVEN seasons in a row, from 1968-1974! He was plunked an incredible 50 times in 1971. Hunt is 6th all-time in HBP, despite playing fewer than 1,500 games.

Aaron Judge already has the 6th best hitting season of the last five years, it's only July 10th. (by FanGraphs batting value)

Pete Crow-Armstrong has made 16.4% of the five-star catches (<= 25%) in the league this season. There have been 61, PCA has ten of them. Five-Star Catches: PCA- 10 V Scott, Jr.- 3 H Bader- 3 W Abreu- 3 The only TEAM that is even close is the Red Sox (8) From Baseball Savant/Statcast

“Oscar Charleston could have played on any big-league team in history if he had been given the opportunity. He could hit, run and throw. I’ve seen all the great players in the many years I’ve been around and have yet to see one any greater than Charleston.” - Honus Wagner

It is July 1, 2025, just past the midway point of the season. MLB pitchers have already thrown more 96+ MPH pitches than the entire seasons of 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. And fastball usage is down from that time. Just 55% in 2025, all those years fastballs were more than 62% of pitches.

Denzel Clarke has played nine (9!) games, and is tied for 13th in fielding run value (FRV) with 4. He has 3 defensive runs saved. There's certainly some margin for error here with just nine games, but those numbers are special. Clarke also had this 5% ball knocked out of his glove by the wall:

A jump of 11.8 feet above average on this ball is just wild:

Only one player in baseball history has a 162-game span with 45+ homers and 75+ stolen bases. Eric Davis has SEVENTY of them (overlapping). His highs are 50/94 and 45/100!

Martín Dihigo is one of the greatest baseball players of all-time. "El Inmortal" was born on this day in 1906. He isn't just a Hall of Famer, he's in FIVE of them! Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, DR, and USA. He was inducted in Cooperstown in 1977, the first Cuban player to receive the honor.

It is May 21st in the 2025 season. Major league starting pitchers have already thrown more 97+ MPH pitches than all of the full seasons from 2008 to 2012:

A representative Yandy Diaz swing: Always one of the lowest attack angles, and always near the top of smashed ground-out leaderboards! Graphic from new Baseball Savant swing path and attack angle data.

Pete Rose might have to get 14 or 15 committee votes to get in. Don’t believe me? Google “Pete Rose 14 or 15” and see for yourself.

Pete Crow-Armstrong's FRV (fielding run value) ranks 25th among major league outfielders since the start of the 2018 season. Pete Crow-Armstrong was a sophomore in high school in 2018.

Javy Baez's transition to center field has been impressive! He's not qualified for leaderboards yet, but he's going to be near the top. 4 DRS and 2 FRV in just 127 innings out there this season. (1 of 2)

Greatest Second Basemen of All-Time*: 1) Ty Cobb 2) Albert Pujols 3) Mickey Mantle 4) Roberto Clemente 5) Ivan Rodriguez 6) Mel Ott 7) Don Mattingly 8) Kirby Puckett 9) Harmon Killebrew 10) Jorge Posada *Min 1 game at 2B, Max 25 games at 2B

Good news and bad news here for Brooks Baldwin... Bad News: - This ball had a catch probability of 85% Good News: - This highlight begins with a glimpse of Dick Allen in Sox powder blue! - He ran faster than any player has this year on any play, at 33.4 ft/sec!

We're still in April, and starting pitchers have already thrown more 98+ MPH pitches than the entire seasons of 2011 and 2012:

Dillon Dingler set the new season standard yesterday for the fastest throw on a catcher assist! An 88.1 MPH dart out of one knee stance to nail Bobby Witt Jr.!

The seven fastest OF assists this season (by MPH) 4- Other players on other days 3- Addison Barger yesterday

An absolute cannon from Addison Barger to get the double play at 3B! 98.8 MPH 🔥🔥 Barger has the three hardest outfield throws in the league tonight leading to an assist.

What better way to honor the life and legacy of the great Jackie Robinson than with a 42% parlay boost?!?

A fun collection of faces on Baseball Reference today, including guys like Gary Carter, Sam Crawford, Bill Madlock, and Jack Clark. But I wish everybody knew the Hall of Famer who is second on the top row, George "Mule" Suttles! 🧵

Through April 6th, the league has already thrown more 101+ MPH pitches in 2025 than the entire seasons of 2008 and 2020. Data from Statcast. 2020 was shortened by the pandemic, but the league's total pitch # is shown.

My List of All-Time Best Shortstops 1) Willie Mays 2) Lou Gehrig 3) Albert Pujols 4) Mickey Mantle 5) Mike Schmidt 6) Jimmie Foxx 7) George Brett 8) Adrian Beltre 9) Kirby Puckett *Minimum 1 Game Played At SS *Maximum 25 Games Played at SS

George Sisler: -Batted .400 over the first THREE YEARS of the live-ball era, with a .596 slugging %. And that's no small sample, it's 1,982 plate appearances! -#1 in stolen bases by a 1B since 1900. He led the league four times, including seasons of 51 and 45. Art by the incomparable Graig Kreindler

Nolan Ryan allowed the fewest hits per 9 IP in his league in TWELVE different seasons. Four of those were past his 40th birthday. He also struck out the most batters per 9 IP in his league in TWELVE different seasons. Five of those were past his 40th birthday.

Walter Johnson is arguably the greatest pitcher of all-time. He also hit more triples (41) than Ken Griffey Jr., Larry “Chipper” Jones, or Jeff Bagwell.

One of the five greatest fielders of all-time, who happened to produce twice the batting value of a guy one vote from being a unanimous HOFer?

On this day in 1942, Dick Allen was born in Wampum, PA. Perhaps the most feared offensive weapon in the history of the Phillies, I’m glad he’s *finally* entering Cooperstown. Just wish it happened while he was still around. Here’s my painting of him with Philadelphia at Wrigley in 1969.

Big Era Committee news! Any player who doesn't receive 5/12 votes in ineligible the next cycle, then done forever he he fails to reach 5/12 again. Good for getting more players a look, but tough with the 3-vote maximum still intact. And I don't like a player in good standing being ineligible...

In 2024, only two players swung at the same type of pitch 50+ times without recording a hit: Garrett Stubbs- 65 sliders Stuart Fairchild- 53 changeups

Adolis Garcia may have stumbled upon some of Ken Griffey Jr.‘s “brain and nerve tonic”!

Madison Bumgarner: - 4-0 with a .25 ERA (!) and .53 WHIP in the World Series - Younger than Jacob deGrom - Secretly competed as a cattle-roper under an alias - Claims to have dated a girl named Madison Bumgarner in high school

In 1997 Larry Walker slashed .346/.443/.733 with 29 homers...ON THE ROAD!

Happy Birthday to John Kruk! Krukker is the only player in baseball history with a .300+ average, 100+ homers, and hit by 2 or fewer pitches.

Matt Olson has a solid chance of finishing as the all-time dWAR leader at 1B (he's already the leader!):

In the 12 days, Koufax pitched five games and tallied 35 innings with a 1.54 ERA and allowed a .509 OPS with 36 Ks.

On September 20, 1961, Sandy Koufax threw 205 pitches in a 13-inning outing against the Cubs. The Dodgers were chasing the pennant. That game was on a Wednesday, he was pitching on two days rest. He also pitched the Friday and Sunday before and the Sunday after.

Year over year tracking at 100 ballots for Billy Wagner, Carlos Beltrán, Andruw Jones and CC Sabathia (first year on ballot versus Roy Halladay and Joe Mauer):

There are four primary shortstops in history with 100+ HR, 70+ runs from fielding, and a OPS+ of 110 or better: Honus Wagner Cal Ripken Jr. Alan Trammell Troy Tulowitzki Tulo ranks 2nd among this crew in each of the three stats. Still at 0% voting.

Using 2024 park factors, Coors Field is no longer the most extreme ballpark in baseball. It's Seattle.