The SIS Baseball Podcast

Former longtime MLB pitcher and current Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow gives our host, Mark Simon, a lesson on what to watch for in defensive play and pitching using the surprising Giants team as a model.

Mike talked about the Giants overall strengths and put an emphasis on the catcher’s ability to manage the rhythm of a game. He also went pitcher-by-pitcher through the Giants’ surprises this season, explaining how tweaks can lead to success, with Kevin Gausman, Alex Wood, and Anthony DeSclafani as the examples, and the process that leads to such adjustments.

To close, he talked about the many arm angles of the Padres pitching staff, and what a fan should watch the rest of the season regarding pitching in MLB (it wasn’t velocity).

Thanks for listening as always. Stay safe and stay well. 

On this week’s episode Mark Simon (@markasimonsays) talks to Cardinals second baseman and outfielder Tommy Edman and Red Sox beat writer Peter Abraham (@peteabe).

Tommy talks about his family’s interest in baseball analytics (his father teaches math, his brother works for the Twins, his sister works for the Cardinals) and how data plays a role in how he plays (2:05). He also walks us through multiple good defensive plays he’s made this season, from diving stops against Trevor Story and Eugenio Suarez to crashing into the fence to take away an extra-base hit from Alec Bohm (9:59). He also talks about what he’s learned from watching his other Cardinals teammates, including new third baseman Nolan Arenado (15:51).

Peter explains the stats behind the Red Sox success, ranging from J.D. Martinez’s offensive performance, to the improved pitching of Nick Pivetta and Matt Barnes, and quantifiable examples of how Alex Cora’s return benefited the team (21:05). He also gives his thoughts on the other AL East teams (31:03).

Thank you for listening. Please rate and review the podcast if you can. Stay safe and stay well.

On this episode of the Sports Info Solutions Baseball Podcast, Mark Simon is joined by Royals center fielder Michael A. Taylor. They talk about his defensive approach, the value of having a catcher who can catch throws like Salvador Perez, some of Michael’s favorite defensive plays, and what he’s learned from past mistakes in the field (0:57).

Mark also chats with Dr. Jason Themanson of Illinois Wesleyan University to learn the neuroscience behind the great catch that Mookie Betts made against the Padres (12:24).

Thank you as always for listening. Go to FieldingBible.com for all the latest defensive stats. Stay safe and stay well.

On this episode, Mark Simon was joined by Chicago White Sox radio broadcaster Len Kasper and ESPN content producer Paul Hembekides.

Len talked about his transition from Cubs TV to White Sox radio, what interested him most from an analytic perspective so far this season, both in the sport as a whole and for the White Sox. He also discussed Tony La Russa’s impact, Chicago’s potentially unique relief situation, what to make of Tim Anderson and José Abreu’s defensive numbers. Len closed by giving tips to get kids interested in analytic thinking and did an impersonation of Howard Cosell commenting on the analytic revolution.

Hembo and Mark went back and forth trying to find meaning in some of the early-season stats and why right-handed pitching has been so dominant in 2021. Among the players to come up: Freddie Freeman, Frankie Montas, Evan Longoria, and Mark Melancon. They closed the show with a couple of trivia stumpers of an analytic nature.

Thank you for listening. Please rate and review the podcast If you can. Stay safe and stay well. 

On this episode of the Sports Info Solutions Baseball podcast, Mark Simon (@markasimonsays) is joined by MLB Network analyst Cliff Floyd, ESPN Baseball Tonight host Karl Ravech, and New York Times national baseball writer James Wagner to answer some questions from Mark's baseball predictions game.

Cliff Floyd breaks down 5 hitters - Fernando Tatis Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Pete Alonso, Lorenzo Cain, and Shohei Ohtani and assesses the most important thing to watch and what the future holds for each guy (1:09).

Karl Ravech breaks down the 2 toughest divisions, shares what 2021 holds for superstars Juan Soto and Trevor Bauer, and gives a sleeper pick for the Cy Young who has not previously even gotten a Cy Young vote (13:23).

James Wagner picks the 2 teams poised to overachieve the most, gives win total estimates for the 2 most polarizing teams, compares the Yankees postseason chances to those of the Brooklyn Nets and lets us know if baseball games will get any shorter in 2021 (spoiler: probably not) (20:53).

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Thanks for listening. Please rate and review the podcast if you have a chance. Stay safe and stay well.

Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays) heard from Rays infielder Joey Wendle (@JoeyWendle) right after we posted our last episode, so we figured we’d bring you a bonus interview with him before we ramp up to our Opening Day Preview here at the Sports Info Solutions Baseball Podcast.

Joey talks about his 2020 postseason experience and the large number of hard-hit balls he had to field as well as the preparation that goes into playing defense, including pre-game work and how he’s positioned. He also shares tips for aspiring third basemen on making the long throw across the diamond to first base and gives his early impressions of Wander Franco.

Thanks for listening as always. Don’t forget to rate and review us if you can. Stay safe and stay well. 

On this episode of the Sports Info Solutions Baseball Podcast, Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays) is joined first by Eno Sarris (@enosarris) of The Athletic to talk about the trends to watch in MLB this season.

Eno discusses what people should know about seam shifted wake and the pitchers for which it might be the most pertinent (0:48). He also talks about the rule changes at the minor league level and which are most important to note (7:49). Other items discussed include the deadening of the baseball (10:35), the concern over Fernando Tatis' 14-year contract (11:33), and who's winning the World Series if the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers or Padres don't (14:06).

Eno is followed by Dr. Phil Klotzbach (@philklotzbach), a baseball fan and meteorologist at Colorado State University. He explains the research he does on hurricanes and draws parallels between hurricane predicting and baseball predicting (16:20).

Then, Alex Vigderman (@vigmanoncampus) joins Mark to talk about their takeaways from last weekend's SABR Analytics Conference (31:40).

Thank you for listening. Please rate and review us if you can. Stay safe and stay well.

On this episode of the Sports Info Solutions Baseball Podcast, Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays) welcomes spring training with 3 guests!

 First, Mark is joined by Oakland Athletics second baseman and outfielder, Tony Kemp (@TonyKemp).

Tony talks about how his hitting approach generated higher walk rates (1:09), how a player knows and understands what he can do (2:23), the challenges of hitting at Wrigley Field, Minute Maid Park, and Oakland Coliseum (7:00), and his favorite defensive plays, both from college and pro. (8:39)

He also discusses what happened last year when he put out a call on social media to talk to people during the protests related to George Floyd’s death (12:14), and the work Tony is doing for his movement, The +1 Effect. (14:31)

Also joining the podcast is Baltimore Orioles radio broadcaster Melanie Newman (@MelanieLynneN), who is entering her second season calling games for the team. Melanie talks about her rapport with broadcast partner Geoff Arnold (20:20), her climb up the baseball broadcast ladder (24:15), the ascension of women and the importance of representation in baseball play-by-play broadcasting and other important MLB roles (31:25), how she simplifies numbers for listeners (38:17), which Orioles pitcher is better than you might think (hint: knuckleballer!) (42:03) and much more!

 Lastly, SABR (@SABR) CEO Scott Bush (@scott_bush) stops by to give us a preview of the SABR Analytics Conference. (45:33)

 Thank you as always for listening, Please rate and review the podcast if you can. You can contact us at [email protected] or @sportsinfo_SIS.

On this episode of the Sports Info Solutions Baseball Podcast, Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays) is joined by Yankees minor league hitting coach Rachel Balkovec (@_rachelbalkovec), who is currently in Australia working as a coach with the Sydney Blue Sox.

Rachel talks about how she came to be coaching in Australia (1:46). She then addresses the progress that women have made in baseball and other sports and the challenges women face in light of the Mets firing of their GM (5:24).

Rachel also talks about the way she connects with players (11:21), the hardest thing to coach athletes on (13:36), and what she studied when she worked with Driveline (14:51). She also speaks about her favorite mentoring story (20:43) and provides perspective on how she viewed 2020 (25:12).

Thank you for listening. Please rate and review the podcast if you can. You can also find Rachel at RachelBalkovec.com or on Instagram at @Rachel.Balkovec

On this episode of the Sports Info Solutions Baseball Podcast, Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays) is joined by Minnesota Twins centerfielder Byron Buxton (@OfficialBuck103) to talk about everything from his defensive approach to how he changed his swing by watching video, to why he smiles so much and much more (0:45).

Mark also welcomes a group of guests to break down the Fielding Bible award winners from both the KBO and NPB. Jeeho Yoo (@Jeeho_1) of the Yonhap News and Ted Baarda of SIS join first to discuss the winners from the KBO (24:19), and John Gibson (@JBWPodcast) of JapaneseBaseball.com and the Japan Baseball Weekly Podcast finishes the show with a look at the winners from the NPB (48:24).

You can read more about the Fielding Bible award winners at Stat of the Week. Don't forget to rate and review, and stay safe.

Important Links

Byron Buxton defensive highlights (10 minutes worth!)

Game-winning infield hit vs Tigers