Becker: Pitching Stats, Altered
The idea behind these rankings is to give you a way to view performance-to-date while eliminating April from the stats, but still is based on the same number of innings -- or in last week's case, at-bats -- so that the difference between each set of statistics, real and alternative, is fully visible.
While I waxed philosophic for nigh-on six paragraphs last week, I'll just spend one or two now talking about the best practical use of these kinds of rankings, which is in trade targeting and value assessment This data allows you to see how an owner who values recent performance over total stats or projections will view a player. At the same time, if you're into that kind of assessment yourself, it allows you to quickly target players you might not have realized were so good these past two months, due to some April troubles. If you like a pitcher a lot more than his ranking here indicates, now is probably the time to strike. By the same token, the higher-ranked players probably will command a sizeable premium right now, because that's just the way the fantasy player mind's work. Tell me, would you be able to offer or accept the same package of players for Justin Verlander the week before and the week after his no-hitter?
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