Interesting observations from this year

[TranaGreg]

At the start of the year who would have bet even a buck that in fewer ABs, Coco Crisp would end up with more HRs than Josh Hamilton.

[chancellor]

Things I certainly wouldn't have bet a buck on, even at 5:1 odds:

- The Indians would have the 4th best record in the AL
- The Royals would finish better than the Yankees, Orioles and Angels. Especially with hitting black holes at 2B, SS, and 3B.
- The AL highest ranked 3B WAR would be...Josh Donaldson.
- That David Ortiz still had that much in the tank.
-

[hacko]

That ulbado would even resemble a pitcher let alone a number 1

[onejayhawk]

Things I certainly wouldn't have bet a buck on, even at 5:1 odds:

- The Indians would have the 4th best record in the AL
- The Royals would finish better than the Yankees, Orioles and Angels. Especially with hitting black holes at 2B, SS, and 3B.
- The AL highest ranked 3B WAR would be...Josh Donaldson.
- That David Ortiz still had that much in the tank.
-

Picked him up and dropped him the same week in April. I had played with him a lot in 2012 and decided he was a tease. Grrr.

Who would have bet the Giants would be 10 games under .500?
Who would hav ebet the Royals woulbe 20 games up on the next team in their divsion (largest gap of the year)?
Who would bet a team starting Alberto Collapso would win 96 games?
How bout them Pirates?

J

[james33]

I understand the intent of the thread is surprising performances, but one thing surprising in the NL this year is how well the pre-season elite SP pitched.

NL Pitchers who went for $18+ in toutwars:

Kershaw $32
Strasburg $29
Hamels $27
Cliff Lee $26
Cain $25
Wainwright $24
Gio $22
Bumgarner $22
Greinke $19
Zimmerman $18
Latos $18

Gallardo, Cueto, and Medlen went for $17, so admittedly it depends where you cut this off, as that group was only 1-for-3, but preseason a lot of us here, myself included, didn't trust Gallardo, and, more importantly, $18 helps prove my point

Of the 11 SP above that could be considered a staff ace, 8 of them finished ranked in the top 11 SP in actual performance, according to cbs sports rank (I know, cbs sucks, but that's the most convenient rank I have). Hamels (20th), Gio (19th) weren't too far behind, while Cain was the only big disappointment (29th).

I'm not sure how past years compare, but I've heard conventional wisdom about pitching being unpredictable, and this year at least, investing $ in NL stud SP seemed to have a pretty solid return - none blew out their elbow, and none had absolute disaster seasons.

I don't play A.L.; not sure whether the preseason ace fantasy SP in AL turned in good seasons

[TranaGreg]

AL wasn't quite as clear, but most of the top starters turned in good to very good years.

Verlander 31
Price 28
Weaver 24
Darvish 24
Hernandez24
Sale 21
Scherzer 21
Lester 20
Sabathia 20
Dickey 20
Moore 19
Morrow 19
Shields 18

Morrow stands out as the only one nowhere close to value due to injury.

There were few - no - dominant starters in the AL this year though aside from Scherzer (see the AL Cy Young thread) but even a guy like Dickey ended up with a respectable 14 wins & a 1.24 WHIP (4.21 ERA tho).

[pjs24]

Things I certainly wouldn't have bet a buck on, even at 5:1 odds:

- The AL highest ranked 3B WAR would be...Josh Donaldson.
-

Jason's best call by far. Not that he didn't have other gems, but he banged this drum loudly in the winter.

[revo]

There were just 3 players who hit 30+ HRs in the NL. 10 years ago, in 2004, there were 23.

[james33]

There were just 3 players who hit 30+ HRs in the NL. 10 years ago, in 2004, there were 23.

Is this because fewer hitters are on steroids? Or better use of video/advanced stats of hitters' weaknesses by pitchers?

[joncarlos]

One of the strongest candidates for the NL MVP hit 3rd for his team all year and drove in 84 runs in 157 games.

[chancellor]

Jason's best call by far. Not that he didn't have other gems, but he banged this drum loudly in the winter.

Good point. I had forgotten that since Donaldson was kept in my auction league, so I didn't do a lot of research on him.

[revo]

Is this because fewer hitters are on steroids? Or better use of video/advanced stats of hitters' weaknesses by pitchers?

How about this: this year, the NL had six batters with 100+ RBIs and just five with 100+ Runs. In 1999, there were 27 & 31, respectively.

OTOH, there were 25 qualified pitchers with a sub 3.50 ERA in the NL this year, compared with just six in 1999.

[TranaGreg]

One of the strongest candidates for the NL MVP hit 3rd for his team all year and drove in 84 runs in 157 games.

wow. that's a crazy one.

[TranaGreg]

There were just 3 players who hit 30+ HRs in the NL. 10 years ago, in 2004, there were 23.

in the AL the same bar was at 35 HRs (only 3 with more than 35). 10 years ago in the AL every player had more than that.