On Hiatuses and Not-So-Fun Facts

I've been blogging here a lot less this year than last year. You probably think it's because the Pirates aren't nearly as good as they were last year, and therefore I've lost interest. That's not it. The simple answer is: I've been busy! I've been writing a fair amount for Baseball Prospectus, which is an incredibly exciting honor, but it's a lot of work. Here's what I've been doing:

• On June 6, I researched whether a league with really bad teams creates a fertile ground for really good teams.
• On June 13, I wrote about how baseball sabermetrician Bill James's disdain for groundball pitchers, i.e., pitchers who generate many more groundballs than flyballs. I rose to their defense, pointing out that, in aggregate, they allow fewer home runs and, therefore, fewer runs than flyball pitchers.
• On June 14, I discussed an online poll in which, in response to the question "which off. stat is most important to a hitter's value," viewers chose on base percentage. I took issue with that assessment, illustrating how the voters' last pick, slugging percentage, was actually the best. 
• On June 15 (it was a busy week!) I listed players who led their teams in various categories, like RBI and strikeouts, with really unimpressive totals.
• Today I delved more into groundball pitchers, finding that their superiority over flyball pitchers hasn't been a constant over time.

I also wrote my regular weekly Trailing 30 report at Banished to the Pen on Monday. 

I'll try to at least post more contemporaneously.

Now, for a fun fact (which, full disclosure, I heard on MLB.com's Statcast Podcast): Here's a list of the top four outfielders (by plate appearances) for the Miami Marlins and the Pittsburgh Pirates. I've ranked them by OPS:

   Player                 PAs   BA    OBP   SLG   OPS
   Matt Joyce, Pit        117  .292  .419  .594  1.013
   Marcell Ozuna, Mia     287  .321  .373  .565   .938
   Christian Yelich, Mia  270  .316  .404  .491   .895
   Gregory Polanco, Pit   291  .295  .379  .510   .889
   Starling Marte, Pit    268  .331  .373  .498   .871
   Ichiro Suzuki, Mia     151  .353  .427  .398   .825
   Giancarlo Stanton, Mia 252  .211  .311  .427   .737
   Andrew McCutchen, Pit  304  .238  .316  .403   .719

Two of the biggest stars in baseball, at the bottom of the list.