New metrics are popping up all over these days. It’s an exciting time to be a fantasy baseball manager. The team over at Pitcher List has been workshopping one such metric they refer to as Called Strikes plus Whiffs, or CSW. Divide the result by total pitches and it gives you CSW Rate or CSW%. It accounts for called strikes, swinging strikes, and foul tips into the glove but excludes foul balls. You’ve likely seen plenty of reference to swinging strike rate. CSW% takes things a step further incorporating the other “best” strikes of called strikes and fouls into the glove. They are the harmless strikes. Pitchers that can generate the most of them should be the most effective pitchers. To get the full breakdown give Alex’s Intro To CSW a read. The main take away from his rundown of CSW% is that it’s more strongly correlated to SIERA than SwStr% for starting pitchers. Suffice to say if you put stock in SwStr% than CSW% deserves a place in your stat rotation.
We can draw a number of conclusions from CSW%. It should confirm the pitchers with strong performances and offer some hope for an underperforming one. Here’s the CSW% top 25.
Pitcher | Pitches | Avg CSW Rate |
375 | 38.9 | |
511 | 35.3 | |
491 | 35.0 | |
330 | 34.8 | |
454 | 34.4 | |
466 | 34.4 | |
384 | 34.3 | |
380 | 33.9 | |
352 | 33.8 | |
510 | 33.5 | |
488 | 33.2 | |
451 | 33.2 | |
461 | 33.0 | |
359 | 32.8 | |
457 | 32.6 | |
422 | 32.4 | |
407 | 32.4 | |
482 | 32.3 | |
443 | 32.0 | |
476 | 31.9 | |
464 | 31.8 | |
390 | 31.7 | |
423 | 31.5 | |
572 | 31.3 | |
494 | 31.3 |
We can also look at the starters struggling to fool batters at the bottom of the leaderboard.
Pitcher | Pitches | Avg CSW Rate |
319 | 20.8 | |
259 | 21.8 | |
420 | 22.3 | |
617 | 22.6 | |
294 | 22.8 | |
255 | 23.2 | |
370 | 23.6 | |
427 | 24.1 | |
408 | 24.1 | |
342 | 24.3 | |
349 | 24.4 | |
445 | 24.5 | |
421 | 24.8 | |
352 | 24.9 | |
436 | 25.1 | |
353 | 25.1 | |
494 | 25.1 | |
303 | 25.2 | |
533 | 25.2 | |
434 | 25.3 | |
443 | 25.4 | |
296 | 25.5 | |
489 | 25.5 | |
459 | 25.5 | |
442 | 25.8 |
Continue to broaden your fantasy horizons and incorporate new metrics like CSW%. You’ll stay ahead of leaguemates and be better able to evaluate your roster. In trade negotiations, you’ll also be better armed to come out ahead. Pitching is more challenging to hit on than ever this season. Do your homework and nail down the guys with the best stuff.
Player News
Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters Monday that Marcus Stroman is still dealing with left knee issues.
It certainly doesn’t sound like Stroman is close to making it back to New York’s rotation mix at any point in the near future. The 33-year-old righty received a cortisone injection a couple weeks ago after landing on the shelf with left knee inflammation and has yet to resume throwing. It’s looking like he’ll be out until sometime around midseason.
Rangers selected the contract of RHP Dane Dunning from Triple-A Round Rock.
Dunning rejoins the Rangers’ relief mix just a couple weeks after being jettisoned from the club’s 40-man roster altogether. The 30-year-old righty failed to make Texas’ season-opening roster, but he’ll get another look in long relief after posting a pedestrian 5.40 ERA, 1.55 WHIP and 21/9 K/BB ratio across 20 innings (five starts) for Triple-A Round Rock in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He can be safely ignored in all fantasy formats.
Rangers optioned RHP Caleb Boushley to Triple-A Round Rock.
Boushley heads back to the minors after posting a serviceable 5.87 ERA across 7 2/3 innings (three appearances) for the Rangers since his call-up back on April 8.
Orioles claimed LHP Walter Pennington off waivers from the Rangers.
Pennington will head to Triple-A Norfolk as extra organizational relief depth after being claimed off release waivers from the Rangers. The 27-year-old southpaw made 16 relief appearances last year between the Rangers and Royals in his shot at the highest level.
Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase reports Luis Arraez (concussion) is expected to be activated for Tuesday’s series opener against the Giants.
Arraez landed on the 7-day concussion injured list last Monday following a scary on-field collision the previous night in Houston. The 28-year-old infielder dealt with concussion symptoms for a couple days last week, but has been symptom-free of late and was able to complete workouts. All signs point to him being ready to return for Tuesday’s showdown in San Diego.
Rangers released LHP Walter Pennington.
Pennington was cut loose by the Rangers after passing through waivers unclaimed following his removal from the club’s 40-man roster last week. The 27-year-old lefty made 16 relief appearances last year between the Rangers and Royals in his first taste of the big leagues. There should be some interest on the open market, but he’ll likely have to settle for a minor league contract.