We Like When The Facts Back Up Our Random Thoughts

We like it when people who are nerdier smarter than us can find the time and energy to back up our baseless assertions with actual facts and figures. Which is why we're reading Jonathan Hale's Mockingbird blog a lot lately.

Hale picked up on the all of the discussion around Lyle Overbay's performance (including our own), and ran the numbers through the Pitch FXlinger 2000 to come up with a graphic representation of Overbay's season that looks like something that would have done Jackson Pollock proud. And like Pollock's work, you can find meaning in there if you really try.

Most importantly, Hale picks up on the concerns over diminished bat speed, and notes that Overbay's Batting Average on Ball in Play (BABIP) on above average fastballs (over 92 mph) dips to .236. Which is exactly what we said. Sort of.

Also, Hale has an angry and insightful post on the whole Barajas versus Fasano conundrum. We like Mike Wilner, but his assertions that Barajas wasn't a significant upgrade over Pal Sal seemed a little overly sentimental to us. Barajas had a down season last year, but he's much younger and much more athletic than Sal, and we couldn't fathom the Jays running the Fu Manchu out there for any extended period if/when Zaun goes down this year.

We saw Fasano up close in a Syracuse uniform this summer, and he looks like a creaky old man behind the plate, not to mention his dimishing offensive skills.