Hitting for the Cycle
A Sunday Review - January 16, 2022
đ What Iâm Reading:
BABS Project Book 1: Why We Need a New System - Ron Shandler
I am a big supporter of Ron Shandlerâs Broad Assessment Balance Sheet (BABS) which is a non-statistical skills based asset and liability system. Though I would certainly recommend purchasing an annual membership, one of the best things that Ron offers on BABSbaseball.com are the free ebooks located in the middle section of the homepage. The comprehensive ebooks not only dive deep into how to use the BABS system with examples from prior years (Part 2 and Part 3), but ebook Part 1 is something I re-read to continually remind myself of how very susceptible we are to relying on projections for certainty, and how FOMO and recency bias cloud our fantasy baseball decision making.
đ§ What Iâm Hearing:
Benched with Bubba Episode 424 - Fantasy Baseball with Matt Goodwin
For me, this was a wonderful introduction to Matt Goodwin of PitcherList and Triple Play Fantasy. There is plenty of discussion on projecting playing time for players, early NFBC draft trends, and looking for specific category profiles. However, I was very much intrigued and refreshed by how Matt approaches fantasy baseball with openness and curiosity as well as how important it is to ask yourself questions rather than just grasp for answers. Some important insights at the 16:00 minute and the 1:11:30 minute marks. I look forward to listening to more of Mattâs process and approach to the fantasy baseball game on his podcast Dugout Study Hall.
đ Metric of the Week:
SIERA
Standing for âSkill-Interactive Earned Run Averageâ, SIERA has been largely explained as a descriptive ERA metric but also a good predictor of ERA going forward (*Please note that âgoodâ does not equal great, and SIERA should be used in conjunction with other metrics to evaluate a pitcherâs overall skill). Many analysts utilize this metric as their in-season evaluation tool to determine whether a pitcherâs current ERA should be better or worse as the season moves forward. SIERA takes strikeout rate, walk rate and balls in play (a complicated formula that involves the combination of ground ball rate and home run rate), and combines and most importantly interacts all those three factors together not in isolation.
đŹ Quote of the Week:
"We can't learn without pain." - Aristotle