Shields intrigued by sabermetric revelation
San Diego Padres pitcher James Shields is throwing his support behind data-driven analysis - so long as it doesn't reveal anything too negative about him.
On Saturday, Shields told Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune that he recently stumbled upon the website Brooks Baseball, an indispensable resource devoted to pitching data and analysis. He was especially impressed to find the velocity table, which showed his average and max fastball speed on an upward trend over his three spring starts.
His response when informed that certain readings aren't completely accurate: "Don’t burst my bubble, dude. I hit 91 last game."
— Dennis Lin (@sdutdennislin) March 27, 2016
The Padres right-hander told reporters that he's up to date now with the "saber-toothed tigers" after diving deep into the depths of the website's comprehensive database.
"Someone dropped a SNIPs (strikes not in play) on me," he said. "I was like, 'What is that?' I went on Brooks Baseball. I get it now."
Shields' quest for knowledge, however, may lead him down a path he'd rather not travel. The 34-year-old posted career-worst numbers in two of the most commonly used sabermetric pitching stats last season: FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) and WAR (wins above replacement).