Episode 69 looks at important early season metrics to monitor in evaluating player performance and potential changes in underlying skills or approach. With all the relevant small sample size caveats in place, I share my process for investigating hitter and pitcher skills to answer why a player has improved, gotten worse or if they look like the same old player just on a hot or cold streak. Skills discussed include o-swing, contact rates, batted ball profile, xwOBA, Statcast data, velocity, pitch mix, new pitches, SwStr and others. I also share some online tools to monitor the metrics, including portions of the FanGraphs, Baseball Savant and Brooks Baseball webpages. You can follow me on Twitter @BatFlipCrazy.
