10/31/11

Mack’s 25-man: - LHSP Jon Niese


Okay, get ready here. I’m going to quote some sabermetrics.

Jon Niese has one of the best FIPs in baseball.

Did I say that right? I’m not going to spend any time here explaining what FIP is. We’ll leave that to Michael on the weekend. What I will tell you is critics and scouts all say that Niese had a very unlucky year and is a quality starter. I guess it’s because of his FIP.

Did you check out that Fangraphs post I had up earlier this week showing Niese one of the FIP leaders.

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a fatal incurable disease that affects cats. It is believed by some to be caused by Feline Infectious Peritonitis Virus (FIPV), which is a mutation of Feline Enteric Coronavirus (FECV) - (Feline Coronavirus FeCoV). Although there appears to be a connection between FIP and feline coronavirus, no clear cause and effect has yet been proven. Experts do not always agree on the specifics of FIP. However, the most common theory is that the normally benign FECV mutates into FIPV. The mutated virus has the ability to invade and grow in certain white blood cells, namely macrophages. The immune system's response causes an intense inflammatory reaction in the containing tissues. This disease is generally fatal [1]. However, its incidence rate is roughly 1 in 5000 for households with one or two cats. A nasally administered vaccine for FIP is available, but controversial and isn't proven to be highly effective. [2]. Great strides are being made with an experimental polyprenyl immunostimulant being manufactered by Sass and Sass and tested by Dr. Al Legendre. In one case study, a female cat diagnosed with dry FIP has survived 26 months from the date of definitive diagnosis (Fall 2009).

Oh… sorry…

From BP:  Fielding Independent Pitching converts a pitcher's three true outcomes into an ERA-like number. The formula is (13*HR+3*BB-2*K)/IP, plus a constant (usually around 3.2) to put it on the same scale as ERA. It was conceived of by both Tom Tango and Clay Dreslough, the latter of who called it Defense-Independent Component ERA. At BP, we are including hit batters in the walks term. The constant we use is both league and season specific - in other words, a pitcher in the American League will have a different FIP constants than a pitcher in the National League. This differs from the presentation of FIP on sites such as Fangraphs, which use one constant for both leagues in each season.

Hey!  It was conceived by Tom Friggin Tango!!!

Everyone knows I like Niese and, yes, he does have that 4.15 ERA-range down (2009: 4.21, 2010: 4.20, 2011: 4.40), but he’s only 25 and has started for the Mets for parts of four seasons already.  I want this guy on the team when the kiddies come up and I project him as a future killer SP4 or SP5.


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