Sabermetrics news: The Red Sox bounced back
Jason Castro’s new stance; the Red Sox bouncing back; the unluckiest teams
FanGraphs | Sung Min Kim: While Gary Sanchez may be the best hitting catcher by exit velo in the American League, do you know who’s right behind him? Jason Castro, who’s hitting .270/.363/.573 over 30 games. With a slightly new stance that allowed him to lower his hands and more properly time his leg kick timing mechanism, he’s unlocked the power of fly balls to great effect.
Baseball Prospectus | Rob Arthur ($): Since April 23rd the Red Sox have been 22-14 after looking to be on the brink of collapse. That would make them the rare team, akin to the 2007 Rockies, to start off so poorly by run differential and finish so well, if they do. A lot of that has to do with Chris Sale regaining his form, and Rafael Devers exploding.
The Athletic | Eno Sarris ($): One wouldn’t think of the Marlins, Reds, and Royals as “unlucky” but there they are. The Marlins are unlucky (less so the last few days) by xwOBA to actual wOBA. The Reds are unlucky by run differential to actual wins, and the Royals are unlucky by severely under-performing the projections.