Thursday, October 31, 2019

A Look Back at the 2019 Pitchers' Rankings Forecast of Both Starters and Relievers

Normally, I like to do things in chronological order in terms of the lists from shows that were rolled out on the MLB Network.  The relief pitchers actually happened last in the 2019 chronology, as the starting pitchers, first basemen, and shortstops' list all came before it, but the results of the top 10 rankings of 2019 relievers was such a crapshoot that I decided that the relief pitchers' list did not merit having its own post.  So I decided to lump the results of the pitchers' rankings in general, as you will be looking at how people's predictions of starting pitchers and relievers did this year.

In reviewing the results of the 2019 starting pitchers' forecast, we will use the Fangraphs' WAR to assess the results of picks made by analysts such as from myself (Alan Lu), the Shredder, Mike Petriello, Vince Gennaro, Ben Lindbergh, Brian Kenny, Ron Darling, and fans from social media (whom I am counting as one vote for simplicity purposes).

So without further ado, how did we all do?

2019 Starting Pitchers' Rankings:

2019 Starters Alan Lu Shredder Petriello Gennaro Lindbergh Kenny Darling Fans fWAR Rank
Gerrit Cole 9 15 8 4 6 8 15 15 7.4 1
Jacob deGrom 3 3 1 1 3 2 4 1 7 2
Max Scherzer 2 1 2 2 2 4 1 2 6.5 3
Justin Verlander 4 5 4 5 4 3 6 5 6.4 4
Walker Buehler 15 15 10 15 15 15 15 15 5 5
Patrick Corbin 15 15 15 7 15 15 15 15 4.8 6
Noah Syndergaard 15 15 15 10 15 15 15 15 4.4 7
Chris Sale 1 2 3 3 1 1 3 3 3.6 8
Aaron Nola 6 6 5 15 9 9 8 7 3.4 9
Clayton Kershaw 10 7 15 15 15 10 5 6 3.4 9
Trevor Bauer 15 15 9 15 7 7 15 9 3.3 11
Blake Snell 15 10 6 8 15 6 10 4 2.7 12
Carlos Carrasco 8 9 15 6 8 15 7 15 1.0 13
Corey Kluber 5 4 7 9 5 5 2 8 0.6 14
Luis Severino 7 8 15 15 10 15 9 10 0.5 15
Diff. Estimator 77 83 63 57 73 65 87 77
2019 Rank 5 7 2 1 4 3 8 5

....

The Findings:

Neither me nor the Shredder did especially that well here.  I think I was about in the middle of the pack while the Shredder rated towards the bottom of the list in terms of accuracy here.

For me, several of the pitchers I had in my top 5 were well within range, but neither me nor the Shredder rated Houston Astros' Gerrit Cole high enough, and we also omitted Buehler, Corbin, and Syndergaard from our lists.  The Shredder completely omitted Gerrit Cole, which was a bad look for them since Cole finished atop the Fangraphs' WAR among starters in 2019.

I did have Clayton Kershaw in about the right range, but they had Blake Snell a little too high on their list.  Overall, I would give myself a C, and the Shredder will get a D+ for their efforts on starting pitchers here in 2019.

Interestingly enough, Vince Gennaro had the best list in making predictions of starting pitchers in 2019.  He did a good job of rating Gerrit Cole high on his list, as he was the highest on Gerrit Cole, who rewarded him by having a fantastic season for the Astros this year.  Gennaro also had the good sense to put both Patrick Corbin and Noah Syndergaard on his top 10 list, and Corbin was an integral pitcher on the eventual 2019 World Series champions, the Washington Nationals this season.

In analyzing two years worth of data, the go-to, pinpoint person for your 2020 starting pitchers' forecast should be Mike Petriello.  A good number of picks regarding starting pitchers have been well within range, and he also will sometimes pick sleepers that will turn out to play far better than anyone else may have anticipated.

_____

So now, we will take a look at how various analysts did in terms of projecting 2019 relievers when making their top 10 lists.  The analysts' lists we will be looking at will be of myself (Alan Lu), the Shredder, Mike Petriello, Vince Gennaro, Ben Lindbergh, Brian Kenny, Dan Plesac, and fans from social media (whom I am counting as one vote for simplicity purposes).

As I have mentioned above, pretty much everyone had a terrible time predicting relief pitchers, because forecasting their eventual results may be the toughest thing to do in baseball.  Case in point, Craig Kimbrel was the closer on the 2018 World Series champions' Boston Red Sox, and he had been a 7-time All-Star that had made the last three All-Star teams prior to the 2019 season.  Kimbrel even earned a couple of first place votes in terms of who would be the best reliever for this season, unfortunately from both myself and the Shredder, and he was on every analyst's top 10 list (in this case, I'm counting fans as one vote for simplicity purposes).

But Kimbrel was unsigned to start the year as he signed midway with the Chicago Cubs after missing the first couple of months of the 2019 season, and Kimbrel went on to have a terrible season, as he finished with a horrendous 6.53 ERA that also helped lead manager Joe Maddon to getting fired at the end of the year.  Kimbrel was unanimously had the worst season among relievers that was ranked by analysts on this list, but no one could have predicted just how terrible he would pitch, even despite the fact that he missed two months of the season due to greed, pure selfishness, and just him wanting too much money as his absence away from spring training and the early part of the regular season may have left him unprepared for the rigors of the 2019 Major League Baseball season.  That and the fact that Kimbrel is in his early-30s, as the decline stage really hit him like a ton of bricks this year.

I really didn't want my last post on the 2019 top 10 lists to be on relief pitchers, and for good reason.  No one was very accurate in their projections in this category, and what you will see below are a lot of relief pitchers who were not projected to be top 10 relievers of 2019 that went on to do so for that season.

2019 Relief Pitchers:


2019 Relievers Alan Lu Shredder Petriello Gennaro Lindbergh Kenny Plesac Fans fWAR Rank
Kirby Yates 15 15 15 5 15 15 15 15 3.4 1
Josh Hader 2 3 1 3 2 1 2 1 2.3 2
Felipe Vazquez 15 6 15 15 6 15 4 15 2.1 3
Aroldis Chapman 15 8 7 10 4 15 7 5 2 4
Brad Hand 7 15 15 15 15 9 15 15 1.5 5
Ryan Pressly 15 15 10 6 3 15 15 15 1.5 5
Adam Ottavino 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 9 1.3 7
Chad Green 4 7 15 15 15 15 15 15 1.2 8
Kenley Jansen 8 15 9 15 8 5 9 10 1.2 8
Jose Leclerc 15 9 6 4 15 15 15 15 1.2 8
Raisel Iglesias 9 15 15 15 15 4 8 15 1.1 11
Sean Doolittle 15 2 5 15 15 15 6 15 0.7 12
Jordan Hicks 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 6 0.5 13
Jeremy Jeffress 15 15 15 15 15 7 15 15 0.3 14
Dellin Betances 6 15 4 15 7 15 10 7 0.1 15
Edwin Diaz 3 4 2 1 1 3 5 2 0 16
Corey Knebel 5 15 15 15 10 15 15 15 0 16
Brandon Morrow 15 10 15 15 15 15 15 15 0 16
David Robertson 15 15 15 15 15 10 15 15 -0.1 19
Jeurys Familia 15 15 15 8 15 15 15 15 -0.2 20
Blake Treinen 15 5 3 2 5 2 1 3 -0.3 21
Andrew Miller 10 15 15 9 15 6 15 8 -0.4 22
Craig Kimbrel 1 1 8 7 9 8 3 4 -1.0 23
Difference Estimator 159 149 153 151 137 175 147 165
2019 Rank 6 3 5 4 1 8 2 7

...

(Just for a reference and to clarify things, even though 23 different relief pitchers made the top 10 lists of eight analysts above here, the 15 number just indicates a player who was NOT on that analyst's top 10 list.)

The Findings:

The relievers' forecast did not end up well, as there ended up being a good number of relievers that were top 10 finishers on this list that were not projected to do so before the season started.  Craig Kimbrel managed to be the LVP of this list, as he was on everybody's top 10 list, and even received a couple of first place votes, and everybody missed at least half of the relievers that made the top 10 list among those ranked by analysts at the end of the year.

It's not easy predicting how well relief pitchers
would fare in any given season, and this season was no different.
The relievers' category was the last accurate list made by analysts in 2019.
(Photo courtesy of Don and Y.F. via Know Your Meme)

I did not put out a great top 10 relievers' list for the MLB season, but neither did the Shredder.  Only Vince Gennaro expected Kirby Yates to excel as one of the best relievers this season, and I missed out on too many relief pitchers.  The Shredder also missed out on a handful as well, but so did the first place finisher of this list, Ben Lindbergh.

In analyzing two years worth of data, if there is anybody that you should go to as the go-to, point person for your 2020 relievers' forecast, it would be the Ringer's writer Ben Lindbergh, as his list has been more accurate than others using the Fangraphs' WAR method in the past two seasons.

On the bright side, I did rate Cleveland Indians' Brad Hand significantly higher than others, and he went on to have a pretty good season.  But overall regarding the 2019 relievers' forecast, I did not do a great job here, so I'll give myself a D-, and the Shredder will get a C.  They did finish in the upper half of this list, but no one was very accurate in general, and both myself and the Shredder would get docked considerably for missing out on Kirby Yates and for putting Kimbrel atop our lists.  But the Shredder did rate Felipe Vazquez, Chad Green, and Jose Leclerc farely well, and those three all turned in pretty good seasons.  As for me, I am choosing not to give myself a failing grade because I did manage to predict that Brad Hand would have a solid season when almost no one else did.  But on the flip side, projecting how well relievers will do may actually be one of the toughest things to predict in baseball.

Also, on whether or not if you should care about who I rank in the top 10 amongst starting pitchers and relief pitchers for the 2020 season, I will say, no, you should not.  I have not been very accurate in predicting starting pitchers so far, as there are always a few pitchers I miss out on at or near the top, and you definitely should not care about my list regarding 2020 relievers, as I have not at all found a way to accurate project relievers yet.  I might keep trying, but unfortunately, I've placed at or near the bottom in predicting relievers each time for the past two seasons.  Predicting outfielders and first basemen has been a strong suit of mine, but unfortunately, predicting pitchers has not been a strong suit for me yet.

Thank you for reading, and thanks to Brewers Nation for providing the top 10 lists of analysts.  (I'm a St. Louis Cardinals' fan, but in this case, they did a good job of recapping what happened for all of the top 10 lists.)  

Thank you for reading, and be sure to give me a follow on Twitter at @AlanLuSTL.

Evaluating the 2019 Center Fielders' Rankings Forecast


On January 20th, the MLB Network asked people on Twitter to vote for the top 10 center fielders for the 2019 baseball season.  To no one’s surprise, Anaheim Angels’ center fielder Mike Trout was unanimously named the top center fielder to start the year. 

Here we will analyze eight analysts’ forecasts using the Fangraphs’ WAR method in how they predicted how center fielders would do for the 2019 MLB season.   We will look at lists from: myself (Alan Lu), the Shredder, Mike Petriello, Vince Gennaro, Ben Lindbergh, Brian Kenny, Eric Byrnes, and fans from social media (whom I counting as one vote for simplicity purposes).  So how did we all do?

2019 Center Fielders’ Rankings:

2019 CF Alan Lu Shredder Petriello Gennaro Lindbergh Kenny Byrnes Fans fWAR Rank
Mike Trout 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8.6 1
Cody Bellinger 4 2 3 5 3 4 4 9 7.8 2
George Springer 3 5 5 4 4 3 5 3 6.5 3
Starling Marte 9 8 7 15 5 7 15 15 3.0 4
Victor Robles 15 15 15 10 15 15 15 15 2.5 5
Charlie Blackmon 5 6 8 8 15 5 6 5 2.0 6
Harrison Bader 8 9 10 15 15 15 9 6 1.8 7
Lorenzo Cain 2 3 2 3 2 2 3 4 1.5 8
Kevin Kiermaier 10 10 15 15 9 10 15 15 1.5 8
Ian Happ 15 15 15 7 15 15 15 15 1.5 8
Jackie Bradley Jr. 15 15 6 6 8 15 7 2 1.4 11
Aaron Hicks 6 4 4 2 6 6 2 7 1.1 12
Ender Inciarte 7 15 15 15 10 9 15 8 0.9 13
A.J. Pollock 15 7 9 9 7 8 8 10 0.9 13
Mallex Smith 15 15 15 15 15 15 10 15 0.0 15
Diff. Estimator 52 52 60 64 62 58 72 70
2019 Rank 1 1 4 6 5 3 8 7


.....

The findings:

Once again, I finished first (well, tied for first with the Shredder) in making my top 10 center fielders' rankings list for 2019, as I along with the Shredder were the most accurate in this category according to the Fangraphs WAR method.

I once again have dominated
in predicting outfielders via top 10 lists
for the 2019 MLB Season.
(Photo courtesy of GFYcat via pbsrc.com)

I think I did pretty well here.  Most of my picks were well within range, and both me and the Shredder had Kevin Kiermaier on our top 10 list, as he ended up playing fairly well, as he finished in that range among players that were ranked by analysts this season.  Though I had some misses, as I did not have Victor Robles on my list, and had also ranked Cain, Hicks, and Inciarte too high, I also had the good fortune to not have rated Jackie Bradley Jr. or A.J. Pollock in my top 10 list, as both players ended up underperforming this season.

The Shredder's list was very similar to mine, and while they had the good fortune to not overrate Inciarte, they did put A.J. Pollock on their list, as Pollock ended up having an underwhelming season in 2019.  But most of our top 10 picks were well within range, more so than the others.  I would give both my list and the Shredder's list an A- for a job well done here.

In analyzing two years worth of data regarding predicting center fielders while rating them via the Fangraphs WAR, your go-to, pinpoint person for the 2020 center fielders' forecast should be....the Shredder.  Here, they actually do a very good job of making their projections for center fielders, so they should be your main source of information for the 2020 season specifically regarding center fielders.

As for whether or not you should car about my 2020 center fielders' ranking list that I will put out in January....and value it, yes, you probably should.  I did a very good job of projecting 2019 center fielders this past year, and my tendency to rate defensive center fielders well has boded well for me recently.

Thank you for reading, and thanks to Brewers Nation for providing the top 10 lists of analysts.  (I'm a St. Louis Cardinals' fan, but in this case, they did a good job of recapping what happened for all of the top 10 lists.)  

Thank you for reading, and be sure to give me a follow on Twitter at @AlanLuSTL.

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Revisiting the 2019 Left Fielders' Rankings Forecast


Today, we will be evaluating the forecasts of eight different analysts that had put out their top ten rankings of left fielders for the 2019 Major League Baseball season.  Last year, the near unanimous pick to be the top left fielder entering the 2018 season was St. Louis Cardinals’ left fielder, Marcell Ozuna.  But after he had a relatively disappointing season compared to the lofty expectations that were placed upon him, Boston Red Sox’s J.D. Martinez ended up being most analysts’ pick to be the top left fielder in 2019.

This time around ,we will be looking at lists from myself (Alan Lu), the Shredder, Mike Petriello, Vince Gennaro, Ben Lindbergh, Brian Kenny, Eric Byrnes, and fans from social media (whom I’m counting as one vote for simplicity purposes).

So, how did we all do?  Let’s find out for ourselves, shall we?  Without further ado, based on the Fangraphs WAR metric, here are how accurate we turned out to be based on that in projecting 2019 left fielders.

2019 Left Fielders’ Rankings:


2019 LF Alan Lu Shredder Petriello Gennaro Lindbergh Kenny Byrnes Fans fWAR Rank
Ronald Acuña Jr. 2 3 3 3 3 2 4 1 5.6 1
Juan Soto 4 6 2 2 2 3 5 5 4.8 2
Michael Brantley 10 15 9 5 15 10 15 10 4.2 3
Michael Conforto 8 8 7 10 7 15 8 7 3.7 4
Tommy Pham 5 4 6 6 8 4 7 15 3.3 5
J.D. Martinez 3 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 3.2 6
Joc Pederson 15 15 15 15 9 15 15 15 3 7
Marcell Ozuna 7 7 10 15 6 15 10 8 2.6 8
Andrew Benintendi 6 15 5 4 5 8 6 3 2.0 9
Ryan Braun 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 9 1.9 10
David Peralta 15 10 15 9 15 9 15 15 1.7 11
Giancarlo Stanton 1 2 4 8 4 6 1 4 0.4 12
Justin Upton 9 5 8 15 10 7 3 15 -0.2 13
Khris Davis 15 9 15 7 15 5 9 6 -1.0 14
Diff. Estimator 54 72 54 56 54 70 76 64
2019 Rank 1 7 1 4 1 6 8 5


....

The findings:

Once again, I was the most accurate analyst (though I tied for first along with Mike Petriello and Ben Lindbergh) by the Fangraphs WAR metric among all of the analysts listed above, as my outfielders' projections have turned out well once again.  Congratulations to me!

I did a very good job of projecting outfielders once again,
as my top 10 2019 left fielders list puts me in first place.
(Picture courtesy of GIPHY via Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.)
Well, I guess most of my picks were within range, I had projected Acuna and Tommy Pham to have a very good season, and I also had projected J.D. Martinez lower than most people had him.  Martinez had a down season so that kind of boded well for me here.  I did have some misses, like I did not put Joc Pederson in my top 10 list, and I had over-reached on Justin Upton and Andrew Benintendi, though that did not hurt me as much as others had also rated them high as well.

The Shredder had an okay list, but their list was more in the middle of the pack.  They missed out on Michael Brantley, and they had Washington Nationals' left fielder Juan Soto too low on their top 10 list.  The did a good job of rating Tommy Pham high, as their pick of him in the top 5 was well within range of top 10 finishers among players that were rated by analysts.  They also missed on Pederson and Benintendi, but that didn't seem to hurt them nearly as much as having rated Justin Upton too high on their list.

Mike Petriello's picks tended to be well within range, and he did a good job of rating Juan Soto, Michael Brantley, and Michael Conforto higher than most of the others on his list.  He benefitted from rating Marcell Ozuna lower than others, though he did not have Joc Pederson on his list, and he did end up rating Benintendi too high this year in 2019.

Ben Lindbergh did a good job of rating Juan Soto and Michael Conforto high, and most of his picks were within range, but he omitted Michael Brantley from his top 10 list.  Overall, I would say, I did well here, so I would give myself an A-.  The Shredder's list is not too shabby, but they rated lower than the other analysts here, so they would get a C.

In analyzing two years worth of data on who your go-to, point person should be for the 2020 left fielders' forecast (in ranking left fielders based on using the Fangraphs WAR metric), it should be the Ringer's writer, Ben Lindbergh.  Most of his picks tend to be well within range, and he also sometimes finds sleepers that others don't rate nearly as well that end up faring well later that season.

As whether or not if you should care about my left fielders' rankings list for 2020, the answer is....yes.  Yes, absolutely you should.  I placed second in forecasting accuracy compared to the other analysts in 2018, and I was tied for first in this category in 2019.  Like Ben Lindbergh, most of my picks tend to be well within range, and sometimes I find sleepers that end up faring well later during the year.

Thank you for reading, and thanks to Brewers Nation for providing the top 10 lists of analysts.  (I'm a St. Louis Cardinals' fan, but in this case, they did a good job of recapping what happened for all of the top 10 lists.)  

Thank you for reading, and be sure to give me a follow on Twitter at @AlanLuSTL.