Here are a select few feature stories from Pinstripe Pundits:
Can Players Plan Their PED Usage Around the Drug Testing Policy?
Generally speaking, players should never expect that they won’t be tested. The only time a player could potentially fall through the cracks would be after his mandatory, in-season test. At this point, he just has to dodge whatever remains of the 1,400 random tests. The issue is that he would have no idea whether any given test is his one mandatory test or one of the 1,400 random tests (I’m assuming MLB wouldn’t disclose this information to the player). Using some basic probability, I decided to figure out just how likely it was that a player would be tested again once he’s been subjected to 2 tests—one at the start of spring training and one at some point during the season.
Chris – February 11, 2013
Yankees’ Draft History Past and Present
The (Rule IV) amateur draft may be six months away, but let’s take a look at the Yankees’ track record historically since the draft’s inception in 1965.Why look at this information now? With draft compensation tied to some free agents, Dave Cameron of FanGraphs discussed the implications of sacrificing a first rounder for an open market prize. His article is influenced by Sky Andrecheck’s interesting analysis which maps out the expected WAR of players by selection. After reading both of these articles, I decided to see how well the Yankees have done historically.
Derek – January 7, 2013
Teixeira’s Loss of Balance Statistically and Mechanically
Mark Teixeira has always been slightly better hitting from the right side, but his rapid decline from the left side the past three seasons has merited great concern. He’ll be 33 in April: is age an issue? What about his swing mechanics? Is the short porch actually hurting his production? These are major questions for a guy with four more years remaining in pinstripes.
Derek – December 26, 2012
The Under-Appreciated Loss of Russell Martin’s Pitch Framing
With Martin out of the picture now, the team may not be able to enjoy the luxury of consistently having an excellent pitch framer behind the plate in 2013. Using this method of comparing plate discipline data with Pitch F/X data, I estimated how many balls were called strikes for each Yankees pitcher last season.
Chris – December 23, 2012
Michael Pineda and the Market for Lemons
In 1970, George Akerlof wrote a Nobel Prize winning essay about asymmetric information entitled “The Market for Lemons: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism.” The primary example he used in his essay was the market for used cars. The “lemons” refer to defective cars not known to be defective until after they’re bought. The takeaway was that if someone is selling his or her car, there’s probably something wrong with that car. This explains why the retail value for cars drops as soon as they leave the showroom.
You can probably see where I’m going with this. So was Michael Pineda a lemon? It certainly looks like it.
Chris – December 14, 2012
Tape Measure Blasts at Yankee Stadium
The most legendary home run at any of the three versions of Yankee Stadium was hit by Mickey Mantle in the original park. On May 22, 1963, Mantle supposedly launched a ball 734 feet. This of course was an estimation, as it hit the facade above the right field upper deck. Remarkably, this was an opposite field blast, as the switch-hitting Mantle was hitting right handed against a left hander by the name of Bill Fischer. The home run was a walk off solo shot. Again, no video evidence for this one.
Derek – August 16, 2012