The SIS Baseball Podcast

On this episode, Mark Simon takes a break from talking defense (mostly) by welcoming in Sean Smith. Sean, a former consultant for the Blue Jays, is the inventor of the WAR you see on Baseball-Reference.com and the author of the new book, War In Pieces, a documenting of how he put it together and an explanation of how it works. The book's chapters are short and not hard to understand, with lots of pertinent historical examples.

Sean talked about the impact the stat has had within baseball, his perspective on WAR's usefulness in evaluating players, replacement level, win probability, the impact of Bill James on his work, and David Eckstein's justifiable 20-WAR career.

For more of Sean's work, visit his website https://baseballprojection.com/

Thanks as always for listening. Please check out the new-and-improved FieldingBible.com website, follow us on Twitter at @sis_baseball, and read our work at SportsInfoSolutions.com. You can e-mail us at [email protected].

We talked to so many Fielding Bible Award winners that we couldn't fit them all into one episode.

On this episode we talked to Award winners Cleveland Guardians pitcher Tanner Bibee and Braves first baseman Matt Olson.

Bibee shared some of the keys to his success in holding baserunners (he allowed 6 stolen bases in 12 attempts but also had 4 pickoffs) and explained what it's like when a 105-MPH ground ball comes right back at you (watch Bibee pick off Shohei Ohtani HERE)

Olson went through some of his favorite plays in 2024 and discussed the preparation that goes into being so good at first base (watch the behind-the-back play Matt talked about - HERE)

Thanks as always for listening. Please check out the new-and-improved FieldingBible.com website, follow us on Twitter at @sis_baseball, and read our work at SportsInfoSolutions.com. You can e-mail us at [email protected].

Thursday, Sports Info Solutions announced the winners of The 2024 Fielding Bible Awards. Each year since 2006 our voters have picked the best defensive player at each position. This year, we’ve added a Defensive Player of the Year award to the mix.

Mark Simon ran through the winners and shared what makes them great defensive players. We also talked to Tigers left fielder Riley Greene, Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle and Red Sox right fielder Wilyer Abreu about their seasons and one of our voters, Ben Clemens from FanGraphs, about his voting process.

Ben's article about his vote- Part I & Part II

Thanks as always for listening. Please check out the new-and-improved FieldingBible.com website, follow us on Twitter at @sis_baseball, and read our work at SportsInfoSolutions.com. You can e-mail us at [email protected].

On this episode, Mark Simon is joined by one of the top defensive players in the minor leagues, A's outfield prospect Colby Thomas, to talk about how he does what he does in the outfield.

Mark also talked to Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post and Tyler Kepner of The Athletic for our 4th annual look at the surprises of the 2024 season. These included the Jose Iglesias, Ronel Blanco, Christopher Sánchez, as well as the Tigers, Guardians, and Blue Jays, plus others as well.

Mark also coaxes a World Series winner pick out of both of them.

Thank you for listening. Please check out Archive.FieldingBible.com for your defensive stats needs, follow us on Twitter at @sis_baseball, and read our work at SportsInfoSolutions.com. You can e-mail us at [email protected].  

On this episode, host Mark Simon (@markasimonsays) is joined by Giants right fielder Mike Yastrzemski (@mikeyaz18) and Brewers broadcaster Vinny Rottino (@vinnyrottino) for a pair of discussions on defensive excellence. Mark was also joined by his SIS colleague Noah Gatsik (@iamthatnoah).

Mark and Mike talked about Yaz's love of defenses from his days as a little kid using the sofa to mimic an outfield fence to the challenges of playing Triples Alley at Oracle Park. Mike also talked about his open-mindedness to learning and how that helped him pick up Jung Hoo Lee's throwing technique.

Mark and Vinny went through the Brewers' defensive studs, looking at what makes players like Brice Turang, Blake Perkins, Sal Frelick, and Joey Ortiz so good. Vinny also talked about his favorite jack-of-all-trades major leaguer.

And then Mark and Noah talked about scouting and the lessons Noah picked up from a conversation with Barry Larkin and how he's never watched infield play the same way again.

Be sure to check out "How Mike Yastrzemski owns the outfield" with Mike and Hunter Pence on the Giants YouTube page.

Thank you for listening. Please check out Archive.FieldingBible.com for your defensive stats needs, follow us on Twitter at @sis_baseball, and read our work at SportsInfoSolutions.com. You can e-mail us at [email protected]. 

Taking a brief break from our usual player interviews as Mark Simon chats about baseball favorites with one of our favorite baseball writers, Joe Sheehan, whose baseball newsletter is a great read.

We're not talking gambling favorites ... instead this was a fun discussion about favorite baseball stories this season, favorite 'out of nowheres,' favorite defensive teams to watch, favorite pitcher to watch who doesn't rank in the Top 10, favorite baseball development, and much more (including a lot on the Royals).

Plus, Mark and his colleague Jordan Coleman chat about Brenton Doyle, Hunter Greene, the ABS challenge system, and the toughest problem to solve in sports.

Thank you for listening. Please check out Archive.FieldingBible.com for your defensive stats needs, follow us on Twitter at @sis_baseball, and read our work at SportsInfoSolutions.com. You can e-mail us at [email protected]. 

On this episode, Mark Simon is joined by Angels shortstop Zach Neto, Tigers broadcaster Jason Benetti, and SIS Video Scout Associate Benjamin Cruciani.

Neto talked about a couple of ridiculous plays he's made the last two seasons on popups, explained the pre-game work that's helped him rank among the shortstop leaders in Defensive Runs Saved, talked about what kind of tattoo would honor his defensive excellence, and shared his personal connection to Jackie Robinson.

Benetti engaged Mark on his AL Cy Young and MVP picks, whether the Guardians or Mariners could win the World Series, how he tries to make his broadcasts statistically sophisticated, and offered a baseball book recommendation.

Cruciani talked about catcher defensive evaluation, injury observations, and two-way players that he finds intriguing.

Neto catch vs Yankees

Neto catch vs Rangers

Thank you for listening. Please check out Archive.FieldingBible.com for your defensive stats needs, follow us on Twitter at @sis_baseball, and read our work at SportsInfoSolutions.com. You can e-mail us at [email protected]. 

On this episode of The Sports Info Solutions Baseball Podcast, Mark Simon talks with Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno, FanGraphs baseball writer Davy Andrews, and SIS Video Scout Associate Christopher Barnett.

Gabriel (with help from interpreter Alex Arpiza) talked about his catching history and the different things he’s worked on that have translated to defensive excellence. He also shared a couple of his favorite defensive plays (you can watch some of Gabi’s best throws here).

Davy talked about 3 articles he’s written recently, one on observing how catchers prevent delayed steals, another in which he looked at what people see when they watch a baseball play, and a third about the statistical stickiness of line drive rate.

Then Mark and Chris closed the show by chatting about NPB outfielder Chusei Mannami, who might have the best throwing arm in baseball, Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn, and which team made the best move for a middle reliever.

Thank you for listening. Please check out Archive.FieldingBible.com for your defensive stats needs, follow us on Twitter at @sis_baseball, and read our work at SportsInfoSolutions.com. You can e-mail us at [email protected]. 

On this episode of the Sports Info Solutions Baseball Podcast, Mark Simon (@markasimonsays) is joined by college baseball coach Cody Dennis (@BSB_Blueprint), who runs a Twitter community for teaching defensive excellence. Mark was also joined by SIS "superscouts" Brandon Tew (@brandonteweets) and Colin Sanders (@colinjsanders) who wrote scouting reports on some of the top college players selected in the MLB Draft.

Mark and Cody talked about what skills he likes to watch and some of the players that others can model their efforts after, like Royals shortstop Bobby Witt. They also talked briefly about Cody's other expertise, coaching baserunning.

Mark then ran through the different players that Brandon and Colin scouted and got their takes and projections (click the link to read the report).

- Chase Burns (Reds)
- Kaelen Culpepper (Twins)
- Jurrangelo Cijntje (Mariners)
- Vance Honeycutt (Orioles)
- Tommy White (Athletics)
- Jacob Cozart (Guardians)
- Dakota Jordan (Giants)

Notable link
Cody's podcast - Apple YouTube
Vance Honeycutt interview from 2023 Apple

Thank you for listening. Please check out Archive.FieldingBible.com for your defensive stats needs, follow us on Twitter at @sis_baseball, and read our work at SportsInfoSolutions.com. You can e-mail us at [email protected]. 

On this episode, Mark Simon (@markasimonsays)is joined by Nationals center fielder Jacob Young (@jacob_young27) to talk about his run of defensive excellence in 2024.

Young talked about what goes into playing the position, specifically how he’s one of the best in MLB at getting good jumps on fly balls. He walked us through 2 catches he made this season, one against Kiké Hernández (link to watch) and another against Ozzie Albies (link).

Mark was also joined by his colleague at SIS, Joey Mahon, to talk pitcher injuries, the trade deadline, and bat speed stats.

Thank you for listening. Please check out Archive.FieldingBible.com for your defensive stats needs, follow us on Twitter at @sis_baseball, and read our work at SportsInfoSolutions.com. You can e-mail us at [email protected].