Kuzul

September baseball is about chases and races and teams fighting for their playoff lives as the season hurtles toward its end. But in 1998, September wasn’t about the postseason hopes and dreams of any teams as much as it was the platform upon which two men staged an epic—yet tainted—drive for one of Major League Baseball’s most hallowed marks.

It’s impossible, in hindsight, to look back upon the summer of 1998—15 years ago this season—and not think about how those two men, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, pulled one over on the sport while hitting ball after ball over the fence.

Sure, there had been whispers at the time. But it wasn’t until years later, when McGwire and Sosa—and a host of other steroid-infused sluggers—were linked to performance-enhancing drug use, that everything changed and baseball endured one of the biggest scandals in its centuries-old history.

The Chase

At the time of the Great Home Run Race of 1998, though, everyone was much more willing to believe.

Or maybe it’s just that everyone was just that much more naive. Back then, it was simply about Big Mac and Slammin‘ Sammy and their dramatic, exciting, reinvigorating run at Roger Maris’ long-standing record of 61 home runs in a single season.

No one had ever hit more than 60 since 1961, when Maris toppled Babe Ruth’s 34-year-old mark. And then—voila!—two players were on pace to do so. In the same September.

To say baseball had never seen anything quite like it would be inaccurate—Maris and Yankees teammate Mickey Mantle battled it out in ’61 before injury curtailed Mantle’s chances and left him with “only” 54 homers—but it had certainly been a while.

Throughout the 1998 season, McGwire, then the St. Louis Cardinals’ first baseman, and Sosa, the former Chicago Cubs outfielder, were as hot as the summer, homering, it seemed, every day. Fans became frenzied, while baseball executives, coaches, players and writers became fans, everyone in awe at the pace the two sluggers were setting.

How many did they hit? became an everyday question that didn’t need to be clarified with names. Newspapers filled pages with charts and graphs and projections of when it could—or would—happen. Countdowns featuring numbers in oversize font and fantasy-like footage became the daily de rigueur as everyone waited for No. 62.

The Record

Fifteen years ago, September started off the same way for the two sluggers. McGwire and Sosa both began the month with 55 home runs, each merely seven shy of history.

As if to welcome in the ninth month, McGwire mashed two homers apiece on Sept. 1 and 2. Sosa, meanwhile, went 0-for-4 in the first game but kept up by smacking one out on Sept. 2, 3 and 4. From there, it didn’t take long.

McGwire tied Maris on Sept. 7 then passed him a day later, on Sept. 8, with his record-breaking low liner off Steve Trachsel. That this happened against Sosa’s Cubs made it all the more poetic and perfect at the time.

Sosa took a few more days to get there, but he did so by equaling—and surpassing—Maris with a pair on Sept. 13, the first off Bronswell Patrick and the second off Eric Plunk.

And like that, not one but two larger-than-life players had wiped 61 out of the books. Or so we thought.

The Immediate Aftermath

When all was said and done, McGwire finished 1998 with an impossible-to-believe 70 home runs, while Sosa himself hit 66.

And everything was grand.

Attendance climbed as fans, inspired and captivated by power displays they wouldn’t dare miss, had flocked to the stadium during the season. Richard Justice, then of the Washington Post, wrote:

McGwire’s and Sosa’s home runs have helped to revive a sport that seemed in decline four years ago when a labor dispute forced cancellation of the 1994 World Series. Until this season, attendance remained below 1994 levels. Fans seemed to be coming back a bit at a time, but because of Sosa and McGwire, they came back in a rush.

For McGwire and Sosa, there were appearances on late-night talk shows as well as trophies bestowed by MLB. The duo graced the covers of magazines, like the famous—and now infamous—Sports Illustrated, in which they stood side by side, dressed in white tunics with gold wreaths upon their (overgrown) crowns.

Sportsmen of the year, indeed.

The Actual Aftermath

It all seemed too good to be true because, in fact, it was.

In the seasons following McGwire and Sosa’s exploits in 1998, baseball only became more homer-happy. Except, what had been considered a marvel of modern man turned into feats, like Barry Bonds’ 73-homer 2001, that began to lead to significant doubts and serious questions.

In 2002, steroid testing was implemented by MLB, and not long after that penalties were put in place for violators.

But the problem, which by this point had become more or less a full-blown epidemic, wasn’t going away.

That’s about the time when the United States government got involved, you’ll recall. In 2005, under pressure from Congress, MLB stiffened the suspensions for players who tested positive. Beyond that, the league also commissioned an investigation that resulted in the much-maligned Mitchell Report, which named more names and brought more scrutiny to the sport.

Eventually, everything came full circle. A decade later, it finally was revealed that Sosa had tested positive back in 2003. Soon thereafter, McGwire came clean about, well, not being clean.

The years since haven’t always been pretty, especially with the ongoing Biogenesis investigation and suspensions, but baseball has done a good deal to try to get the use of steroids, human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing drugs under control.

Will MLB ever be PED-free? No. There’s too much money at stake, and it’s too hard to police everything. But the sport’s overwhelming sentiment, which includes the players themselves, now appears to be one of “enough already.” That’s a big shift, and baseball needed it.

It may have taken some time—and one dramatic, controversial home run race—to get there, but in many ways, McGwire and Sosa’s epic “record-breaking” showdown 15 years ago brought everything to the forefront.

The good—and the bad.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The latest installment of this feature includes two White Sox pitching prospects heading in opposite directions, the best Giants pitching prospect to emerge since Zack Wheeler was traded away and a trio of intriguing yet unpolished prospects that have had issues finding the strike zone this season—they’ve combined for 168 walks in 252 innings pitched this season. 

Triple-A

Hot

Erik Johnson, SP, Chicago White Sox
Season stats: 1.96 ERA, 142 IP, 100 H, 40 BB, 131 K in 24 starts (AAA/AA) 

A 2011 draftee, Johnson started the 2012 season in Low-A and has made the quick ascent to the big leagues. He had his contract purchased from the minors today after proving in just 10 starts that Triple-A hitters were no match for him.

The 23-year-old right-hander, who had a 2.23 ERA in 14 Double-A starts before a promotion in late June, did not allow more than two earned runs in any of his Triple-A starts and put an exclamation point on his season with seven shutout innings on August 29th (7 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 8 K).

It’s likely that he’ll make a few starts with the Sox this month in what could be an early audition for the 2014 rotation. If he never pitches another game in the minors, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise. He doesn’t have a top-of-the-rotation ceiling, but he already looks like a pretty good back-of-the-rotation starter.

Cold

Jake Leathersich, RP, New York Mets
Season stats: 4.63 ERA, 58.1 IP, 51 H, 45 BB, 102 K (AAA/AA) 

The 23-year-old lefty reliever has struck out hitters in bunches since being taken in the fifth round of the 2011 draft. And it hasn’t stopped in 2013, as he’s risen into the upper levels of the minors. Unfortunately, his already questionable walk rate has skyrocketed during his first stint in Triple-A. 

Since a well-earned promotion after posting a 1.53 ERA with Double-A Binghamton, including 16 walks and 55 strikeouts in 29.1 innings, Leathersich has struggled in the Pacific Coast League. He’s walked 29 in 29 innings and has allowed 14 earned runs in his last 7.2 innings.

In a season that could’ve ended with a September call-up, it will end with questions on whether Leathersich can throw enough strikes to succeed in a major league bullpen.

Double-A

Hot

Marcus Stroman, SP, Toronto Blue Jays
Season stats: 3.30 ERA, 111.2 IP, 99 H, 27 BB, 129 K in 20 starts 

The 5’9″ right-hander was pegged as the Jays’ potential “Closer of the Future,” after he was taken as the 22nd overall pick in the 2012 draft. But after a 50-game suspension for violating the league’s drug program ended his year early, the organization decided to develop him as a starter in 2013. 

Results have been mostly good with a handful of dominating starts along the way, including back-to-back double-digit strikeout games in late July and his latest eight-inning, 11-strikeout gem (8 IP, ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 11 K) coming last night. 

While his future could still come as a late-inning reliever, Stroman has shown a lot of ability as a starting pitcher and the Jays will likely keep him in that role until he shows any limitations that would keep him from being successful in a big league rotation. 

Cold

Scott Snodgress, SP, Chicago White Sox
Season stats: 4.70 ERA, 143.2 IP, 146 H, 59 BB, 190 K in 26 starts  

Ranked just one spot behind Johnson in Baseball Prospectus’ preseason organizational prospect rankings, Snodgress has not had nearly the same success and could be stuck in Double-A in 2014 while Johnson pitches in the majors.

The 23-year-old lefty was showing terrific progress after a rough start, allowing just four earned runs in 41.1 innings over a six-start span between July 4th and August 6th. But things have taken a turn for the worse over his last four starts. He’s allowed 22 earned runs on 28 hits and 14 walks in 13.2 innings. Not exactly the kind of impression he wanted to leave on the organization entering the offseason.  

High-A

Hot

Kyle Crick, RP, San Francisco Giants
Season stats: 1.57 ERA, 68.2 IP, 48 H, 39 BB, 95 K in 14 starts

Crick (pictured) was the top-ranked Giants prospect coming into the season, according to Baseball Prospectus, although that doesn’t say much considering how weak the farm system has been viewed over the past few years. But despite missing some time due to an oblique injury early in the season, he’s shown plenty in the hitter-friendly California League and should find himself on most offseason rankings of the top 100 prospects in baseball.

Since returning in late June, the 20-year-old has allowed just 11 earned runs in 59 innings (1.68 ERA) with 30 walks and 83 strikeouts. He’s recorded double-digit strikeouts five times, including in his last start on August 29th (7 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 11 K). He’ll likely begin the 2014 season in Double-A and could push for a big league promotion by midseason. 

Cold

Damien Magnifico, SP, Milwaukee Brewers
Season stats: 4.57 ERA, 80.2 IP, 83 H, 41 BB, 63 K (HiA/LoA) 

He has the perfect name and the triple-digit fastball to end up as a late-inning relief specialist in the future. For now, the Brewers are having him start so he can develop some of his weak secondary offerings, which would make him a more effective relief pitcher in the future. 

Results have been mixed, although mostly poor since a June promotion to High-A Brevard County. For the most part, the 22-year-old right-hander had done well when limited to two innings or less (7 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 5 K) before his last outing on September 1st when he allowed three earned runs on two hits and four walks in just one inning of work. 

Magnifico remains a work in progress, although it’s likely they’ll unleash him in a full-time bullpen role within the next year or two in hopes that his work as a starter will have helped.

Low-A

Hot

Ismael Guillon, SP, Cincinnati Reds
Season stats: 4.75 ERA, 121.1 IP, 95 H, 95 BB, 134 K 

After a mostly disappointing season, Guillon is finally showing why the Reds added him to the 40-man roster prior to the season. He’s a long way from the majors, but he’s talented enough that some team may have taken a shot on him in the Rule 5 draft.

Heading into his start on July 29th, Guillon had a 6.37 ERA with 80 walks in 82 innings. Since then, the lefty out of Venezuela has allowed just six earned runs in 39.1 innings over a span of seven starts. The turnaround has been sparked by an improved command of the strike zone (18 BB), including only six walks in his last 24 innings pitched. 

Guillon has likely done enough to continue climbing the ladder, although he’ll need to continue throwing strikes or he won’t make it much further than High-A ball.

Cold

Austin Brice, SP, Miami Marlins
Season stats: 5.73 ERA, 113 IP, 118 H, 82 BB, 111 K 

Several Marlins pitching prospects have been impressive this season, giving the Marlins continued hope for a future filled with young talent at the big league level. While Brice was the seventh-ranked prospect coming into the season by Baseball Prospectus, he has not been amongst the group of pitchers to take a step forward in 2013. 

In fact, he’s gone backwards. Well, to be more specific, Brice has gone backwards and then forward and now backwards again. The 21-year-old appeared to have righted the ship with a strong string of starts July and August. But he hit a wall and has mostly struggled since the middle of last month.

After allowing nine runs (only one earned) and getting knocked out in the first inning on August 14th, he allowed six earned runs on 10 hits in his next start on August 19th. Following a solid start on August 24th, Brice gave up six earned runs on eight hits in only three innings in his last start. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Most of us had already suspected that this was going to be a rough season for the Cubs. In fact, it was widely considered a rebuilding year with an eye on 2014 and beyond. So, considering that they haven’t been in the playoff race for the last few months, what makes September any different than June, July or August for the Cubs?

While the future of the team relies heavily on an impressive farm system with four elite position player prospects on the way, it was thought that two key players had already arrived. First baseman Anthony Rizzo and shortstop Starlin Castro, both impressive young hitters in their early 20’s, were signed to long-term contract extensions only a few years into their big league careers.

But the jury is still out on whether they are a duo that the team can build around after each player’s production has declined in 2013. Their September performance could make a big impact on how the team approaches the offseason.

If they can bounce back and finish strong, then the need to find an impact bat in the offseason decreases. If not, the Cubs could look to spend big money on one of the top free-agent hitters that could replace Castro and Rizzo as the “face of the franchise.”

I’m guessing that Cubs fans are half-hoping that they continue to struggle just so there is a sense of urgency to add another big bat this winter. For what it’s worth, Castro is seven for his last 21 with three multi-hit games, and Rizzo is 11 for his last 37 with three homers. 

Here are four more reasons to keep watching Cubs baseball in September. 

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For just the second time in four years, there’ll be no World Series championship to celebrate in San Francisco.

In fact, the Giants are on pace to finish with 90 losses for the first time since 2008 and in last place for the first time since 2007. Going into today, they were 15.5 games back of a wild-card spot. So why is there any reason to keep watching them play seemingly meaningless games in September? 

For starters, keep watching because it could be the last few chances to see two-time Cy Young Award winner and future San Francisco legend Tim Lincecum in a Giants uniform—at least as an active player and not in a old-timers’ game 20 years from now.

The 29-year-old free agent-to-be has very likely done enough to where the qualifying one-year offer the Giants make to him will be less enticing than the multi-year offers he’ll get on the open market. In his last 15 starts, Lincecum has a 4.15 ERA with 32 walks and 97 strikeouts in 93.1 innings.

That won’t get him the possible record-breaking deal he was on pace for after the 2011 season, but he’s been consistent enough that he’ll still be one of the top starters available in the winter. Had he not turned things around after a year-and-a-half of mediocrity, it’s probable that he’d be satisfied with a one-year deal to return to San Francisco.

Due to make another six or seven starts, his market value can still move up or down depending on how he finishes. More importantly, this could be his farewell tour after a mostly terrific seven-year run with the Giants.

Here are four more reasons to keep watching in September.

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As of August 30, 16 major league teams either hold a playoff spot or are within 6.5 games of one and could be looking to improve their playoff chances by making a waiver-wire deal by tomorrow’s deadline to add players who will be eligible for a playoff roster.

Eleven August trades have happened thus far:

• The Texas Rangers acquired outfielder Alex Rios from the Chicago White Sox for prospect Leury Garcia.
• The Kansas City Royals picked up utility infielder Jamey Carroll from the Minnesota Twins and utility man Emilio Bonifacio from the Toronto Blue Jays, both for a player to be named later or cash considerations.
• The Tampa Bay Rays acquired lefty reliever Wesley Wright from the Houston Astros for cash considerations.
• The Washington Nationals acquired outfielder David DeJesus from the Chicago Cubs for a player to be named later.
• The Oakland A’s acquired catcher Kurt Suzuki and cash from the Nationals for minor league pitcher Dakota Bacus.
• The Rays acquired outfielder David DeJesus from the Nationals for a player to be named later or cash considerations. 
• The Pirates acquired catcher John Buck and outfielder Marlon Byrd from the Mets for minor league second baseman Dilson Herrera and reliever Vic Black.
• The Indians acquired outfielder Jason Kubel from the Diamondbacks for a player to be named later or cash considerations.
• The Cardinals acquired reliever John Axford from the Brewers for a player to be named later.
• The Orioles acquired first baseman/outfielder Michael Morse from the Mariners for outfielder Xavier Avery.

With a few trade possibilities still lingering, here’s all of the latest waiver-trade buzz from around the league.

Nationals Resurgence Taking Dan Haren Off the Market?

As Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported earlier in the week, there hasn’t been strong interest in Nationals right-hander Dan Haren, who has a 2.53 ERA in his past 53 innings pitched. But could it be that the Nats just aren’t that interested in dealing him now that they’ve closed to within striking distance of a wild-card spot. 

With 14 wins in their past 19 games, the Nats have improved their record to 68-65. While they’ve gained just 2.5 games in the wild-card standings over that span—they’ve moved from nine back to six-and-a-half back—it’s close enough to where it’s a realistic possibility. After failing to live up to very lofty expectations all season long, trading one of their best starting pitchers at a time when things are finally clicking on all cylinders just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

Red Sox Could Add Bullpen Help

Tim Britton of the Providence Journal notes that the Red Sox could use another right-handed reliever. While manager John Farrell says he’s not too concerned—Ryan Dempster, who was the Cubs‘ closer from 2005-2007, will likely move to the bullpen once Clay Buchholz returns from the disabled list—it sounds like he’s at least open to a deal if one made sense. 

Junichi Tazawa, who is currently the lone right-handed setup man in the Sox’s bullpen—Matt Thornton and Craig Breslow are the primary left-handed options—has had a terrific season (2.75 ERA, 59 IP, 9 BB, 63 K, 20 holds) but has allowed runs in consecutive appearances.

The 27-year-old has bounced back from bad outings before, which is why he’s starting to be considered one of the top setup men in the league, but it would benefit the Sox to have another right-hander late in games to face tough right-handed hitters.

One option could be Matt Lindstrom (pictured), who would be the third White Sox player to be acquired by Boston this season—Thornton and Jake Peavy are the others. The 33-year-old right-hander, who cleared waivers earlier in the month, is holding right-handed batters to a .588 OPS. Overall, he has a 3.04 ERA with 17 holds and only one homer allowed in 53.1 innings.  

The Justin Morneau Watch

It appeared that Justin Morneau (pictured) was giving the Twins a very nice going-away present in the form of an increased trade value after he started the month with 27 hits in 89 at-bats (.303 BA), including seven homers, seven doubles and 19 runs batted in. That value might have deflated some, however, during his current 1-for-23 slump. 

Small samples usually don’t sway a player’s value one way or another during the season, but when a team is making a trade specifically for a small sample of the season—in this case, it would be about 30 games and possibly the playoffs—it would make sense to acquire a player when he’s on a hot streak. 

On the other hand, Morneau’s price tag could’ve dropped just enough for a team like the Pirates to swoop in and pick him up for the stretch run without giving up any prospect of significance or taking on much of his remaining salary. The Bucs have shown interest in the past, and Rosenthal recently tweeted that they may be one team that is currently interested. 

Two teams that may have been interested—Baltimore and Cleveland—can probably be ruled out of the mix after they recently acquired Michael Morse and Jason Kubel, respectively. 

Other Last-Minute Trade Possibilities

A few interesting names that haven’t popped up in the rumor mill, mostly due to these players being on the disabled list until recently, are Angels starter Jason Vargas and Mariners outfielder Franklin Gutierrez. 

Vargas, who has made four starts since returning from a disabled list stint due to a blood clot in his armpit, has allowed just one earned run over 13.1 innings over his past two starts. The 30-year-old lefty was placed on waivers on August 19, according to Rosenthal, but there was no word on whether he cleared or not. 

The likelihood is that he did pass through unclaimed, given his salary (still due close to $1.5 million) and the fact that he didn’t pitch well in his first two outings (9.2 IP, 7 ER) after returning. If this is the case, contending teams looking to upgrade their rotation will be interested in striking a deal by tomorrow, especially after what he did versus the Rays on Thursday (7 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 3 BB, 7 K).

In the case of Gutierrez, there is no question that he is a huge injury risk, so giving up any prospect or taking on any salary will be viewed as a questionable decision. But in between all the time he’s spent on the disabled list this season, he’s been a very productive hitter and has always been good against left-handed pitching (.833 career OPS vs LHP), in particular. His three-hit performance on Thursday, which included his second homer in two games, could open some eyes. 

Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported in early July that teams were calling about the 30-year-old, although he was out at the time and ended up missing more than two months with a hamstring injury before returning on Monday.

If a contending team is willing to take a chance and the M’s will pick up some of the remaining $1.5 million in salary (approximately $1 million in 2013, $500K buyout in 2014), Gutierrez could be a difference-maker for a contending team down the stretch.  

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

“It gets late early out here.”

Hall of Famer and noted wordsmith Yogi Berra wasn’t talking about September baseball when he uttered the above, one of his many famous sayings, but he could have been.

The Major League Baseball regular season, it’s often said, is a marathon—162 games that never feel quite as much like a day-after-day grind as they do during the “dog days” of August. But as soon as the calendar flips, so does the proverbial switch. At that point, the season becomes a September sprint to the postseason.

That’s when it gets late early. Especially for teams that are several games back and attempting to either chase down a division leader or secure a wild-card spot. They need to start winning, like, now.

The good news? Large deficits have been overcome many times. Just ask the Tampa Bay Rays or St. Louis Cardinals, who authored two of the biggest, most dramatic September comebacks in baseball history by claiming playoff berths on the final day of the season in 2011.

Those clubs proved another Yogism to be true: “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” 

For teams on the outside looking in, there’s only so much time to catch up, but there are also steps that can help when it comes to pulling off a September surprise.

Step 1: Win. A Lot.

Baseball at this time of year, in many ways, becomes a bunch of theoretical math problems. 

Team X and Team Y both have 20 games left, but Team X is six games ahead in the standings. If Team X plays .500 ball (10-10), then Team Y needs to go 17-3 to pass them.

While that’s the kind of approach that some players, coaches and fans might get too caught up in, a team trying to mount a comeback needs wins, first and foremost.

Whether battling it out against top competition or simply ensuring there are no hiccups against lesser squads, the team needs to take care of business by piling up wins at a rate well above what it has done to this point in the season.

Essentially, a comeback requires a team to play above its head for a few weeks, which isn’t easy but is necessary.

The Washington Nationals, for instance, have hung around .500 all season. In fact, they’ve never been more than six games above or below that mark. Still, they’re only 6.5 back of the Cincinnati Reds for the second NL wild-card position. It’s within reach, but only if the Nats play better from Sept. 1 on than they have all year long.

Step 2: Gain Ground

Whenever playing against the team they’re chasing, winning is an absolute must.

After all, head-to-head matchups are the best way to ensure that not only the team wins but also that the competition loses—all in one game—as a team tries to gain ground in the win and loss columns.

And if the team in front loses a day game or finishes a night contest early and loses, the chasing team must take advantage. (Hey, a little scoreboard watching can be helpful.)

The Cleveland Indians are a perfect example of this, as they enter play Friday 6.5 games behind the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central—and start a three-game series against them that carries into September. It’s the last times those two are scheduled to play each other for the rest of the regular season, so if the Indians want to make a push, they best start by taking at least two out of three. 

Step 3: Ride the Stars…

Despite being five-plus months and some 140 or 150 games into a grueling and tiring season, this is not the time for teams to stray from playing studs.

The fact that the roster size increases from 25 to 40 men might make it slightly tempting to give a slumping star a day of rest or to try out a new player, but this is not the time to go that route.

It’s better for, say, the Arizona Diamondbacks—six games out in the NL wild-card race—to play their top guys while they still have a shot rather than wonder if a few more at-bats by Paul Goldschmidt or another start by Patrick Corbin would have been the difference between playing and watching in October.

Step 4:…But Utilize the Expanded Roster

As mentioned above, roster expansion allows teams to carry up to 40 players in the final month. While it can be a pitfall to rely too much on this, there are, in fact, ways for savvy managers to take advantage of having more players.

One way to do so? Exploit pitcher-hitter matchups, especially late in games. When the Baltimore Orioles take on the Boston Red Sox in mid-September, manager Buck Showalter could bring in left-handed reliever Brian Matusz—who has held lefty hitters to a mere .170 average—to face David Ortiz in a key spot earlier than normal, knowing he has other bullpen arms to fall back on later.

Same goes for using extra hitters to gain the platoon advantage either throughout a game or in the late innings. It’s also useful to be able to plug in a defensive replacement when winning or a pinch-runner when trailing in, say, the eighth or ninth inning. When one run is the difference between winning and losing, one great catch or timely stolen base can decide things.

Step 5: Make the Schedule a Friend Whenever Possible

In September, most teams will have one day off—maybe two, if they’re lucky—and that must be treated like gold.

This isn’t about using off days to work on something specific or for a mental/physical break for some rest, although those are important factors too. No, this is about making use of the non-game in a strategical way to plan ahead.

A team can utilize an off day to align the rotation over the final few weeks, which can be incredibly beneficial. Ideally, this is done by skipping a starting pitcher who has gone cold at the wrong time—or who isn’t good enough to step on the mound in a late-season contest with his team’s playoff hopes potentially on the line. 

The Kansas City Royals, who are six games out of a playoff position, should make sure James Shields and Ervin Santana get as many starts as possible in September. With two off days in the middle of the month, they can shift things around in order to avoid pitching, say, Bruce Chen any more than they absolutely have to.

Step 6: Hope Like Heck the Other Teams Lose Enough

Executing all of the above is nice and all, but it won’t do much good if the team in front doesn’t lose enough to fall back and get overtaken.

Take the New York Yankees, who have played better of late. They’re 13-7 in their last 20 to get within five games of the second AL wild-card spot, but they’re still trailing three teams in the Indians, Orioles and Oakland Athletics.

Only five of the Yankees’ 27 September games are against teams they’re trailing, and all of those are versus the Orioles. In other words, they won’t be able to directly determine whether the Indians or A’s lose. Instead, they’ll just have to hope.

Obviously, pulling off a big turnaround in the final month is easier said than done, but as the Rays and Cardinals showed, it actually can be done. Following these steps can help, and as September turns to October, maybe we’ll be marveling at yet another team or two who completed a how’d-they-do-that comeback to clinch a postseason spot.

Or in Yogi speak: It’ll be deja vu all over again.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Nine American League teams are still fighting it out for five playoff spots. Anything can happen. Nothing is close to being set in stone. Over in the National League, however, the Dodgers and Braves have all but wrapped up playoff spots while three National League central teams have a pretty good grasp on the others.

Those three—the Cardinals, Pirates and Reds—are still fighting it out for the division title while still trying to not lose focus of two teams within striking distance of the wild-card spots. The D-backs were six games back coming into today, while the Nationals were eight games out. 

The Bucs already made a big move, acquiring right fielder Marlon Byrd and catcher John Buck from the Mets today, per ESPN’s Adam Rubin. Here are five other teams that should follow suit and upgrade their rosters through a waiver trade.

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On Monday, Derek Jeter returned to the New York Yankees. Again.

If it seems like 2013 has been a tough year for the longtime Yankees shortstop, well, that’s because it has.

Not only has Jeter missed practically all season while recovering from a fractured left ankle suffered during the 2012 playoffs, followed by a right quad strain and a right calf strain, he also turned 39 years old in June.

It seems even the formerly durable Jeter, who played at least 148 games in 15 of his 17 full seasons prior to this one, is finally facing down Father Time—and losing.

To put things in perspective, even if Jeter were to play in every one of the Yankees’ final 31 contests from here on out—which will not happen—he would have only 37 in the “games played” column for 2013.

While Jeter looks to be on his last legs—legs that he’s having trouble keeping healthy—he was undoubtedly a superstar for the better part of the past decade-and-a-half.

Witnessing Derek’s decline, which has been oncoming for a few years even if he was still pretty darn great this time a year ago, makes one wonder how and when other recent elite shortstops have experienced their own downturns.

Let’s dive in and dissect these declines.

First, we’ll need to define what a superstar shortstop is. For that, we’ll set a standard of at least three seasons of 5.0 wins above replacement (WAR).

Here, then, is a list of all the shortstops who achieved this over the past 30 years, in order of total career WAR.

Now before going any further, it’s worth pointing out that there were a few other names who were tough cuts based on the criteria. Chief among them were Omar Vizquel, Michael Young and Edgar Renteria, but Vizquel topped the 6.0-WAR plateau only once (in his fantastic 1999), same goes for Renteria (in 2003) and Young never did. In other words, including them in the list would open this up to way more players, which would simply dilute the overall talent pool and defeat the purpose.

Offensive Decline

As far as determining when these superstars started their offensive declines, it’s a combination of objective and subjective measures. By using metrics like weighted runs created plus (wRC+) and weighted on-base plus slugging plus (OPS+), it’s possible to get a sense of when things started to go south on offense.

Of course, not every player neatly fits into a linear downward trend. For instance, Nomar Garciaparra had a resurgence in 2006—at age 32—with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but that was really more of one last hurrah (or perhaps a dead-cat bounce) than proof that he was still the offensive force he’d been earlier in his career.

And in many cases, a player needed to be compared to himself in order to determine when the decline actually began. Alex Rodriguez is a good example of this, because it could be argued that he was an above-average player compared to all big leaguers even last season (despite missing time with injury). But when comparing A-Rod against A-Rod, it’s pretty clear that he dropped off from his elite-level production in 2010.

As for those who have an “N/A” next to their name in the “Age at Offensive Decline” category, it’s simply that Jose Reyes and Troy Tulowitzki have yet to experience any dramatically decreased output with the stick.

Hanley Ramirez, though, is a curious case indeed on this front. It appeared that he fell off in 2011 at the just-entering-his-prime age of 27, which would be rather odd. Except it’s pretty tough to say that a player who is currently sporting career highs in wRC+ (181) and OPS+ (179) is in decline, right? For now, the jury is still out, so Ramirez also gets the “N/A.”

Overall, the average age of offensive decline comes in at 33 or 34 years old, which makes sense considering a player’s prime is typically between ages 27 and 32, give or take.

Defensive Dropoff

It’s tougher, if not impossible, to determine a full picture of when superstar shortstops start to decline for a few reasons.

First, defensive metrics are still imperfect in many ways, and it’s best not to read too much into performance in any one season; even those who have studied, researched and developed these statistics will suggest analyzing a sample size of at least two or three seasons to get a truer take.

Beyond that, the primary options for evaluating glove work today are runs saved (DRS) and ultimate zone rating (UZR), which have only been around for the past 10 seasons or so. In other words, there’s literally no way to use these to measure the dropoffs of Ozzie Smith’s or Cal Ripken’s defense.

And speaking of Ripken, he raises another issue: the position switch. It’s silly, in many ways, to attempt to compare a player’s ability with the leather from one position to the next. This is the reason why the chart above has a column that points out when the players shifted off of shortstop (if they have or ever did).

Aside from Rodriguez going from short to third base upon joining the Yankees in 2004 to allow Jeter to remain at his position, it’s safe to assume that a move from shortstop to another spot (namely, third base or outfield in the above cases) coincided closely enough with a decreasing ability to handle one of the most demanding defensive positions.

One last point here. Again, Ramirez is an odd bird, as he was moved from short to third by the Marlins as a 28-year-old—only to return to his initial position after being traded to the Dodgers in the middle of 2012. The fact that he’s still at shortstop can be attributed to the dearth of talent at the position and the Dodgers’ lack of any other legitimate options, but Ramirez has never been a particularly strong defender.

Last Great Season

Because some of these players were more offensive-minded, while others were more defensive-oriented, it helps to combine both aspects of their skill sets (and others, like baserunning) by using wins above replacement (WAR) to uncover when they had their last great season.

Using FanGraphs standards for the metric, a WAR of 4.0 or higher in a season is considered All-Star-caliber, which explains that column in the chart above.

The average age of this final fantastic year is 33.5, which corresponds rather well with the average age of offensive decline—33.6—from above, wouldn’t you say?

For the purposes of this calculation, it’s assumed that none of Rollins, Rodriguez, Jeter or Tejada, all of whom are still active, will ever again hit 4.0 WAR. That’s not a guarantee, but c’mon, would anyone really want to bet on it happening?

Also, Reyes, Ramirez and Tulowitzki weren’t considered, because they’re still in the primes of their careers and could easily put together at least one or two more All-Star-caliber years.

This isn’t to say that many of these players weren’t effective after their final 4.0-WAR campaign or that their careers were more or less over (more on that below), but for the most part, they were no longer all-around elite once their offense started to falter, right around 33 or 34 years old.

The counter to that, though, is the fact that Smith, who is perhaps inarguably the best defensive shortstop in the history of baseball, had his final four-win season at age 37—two years older than anyone else.

Retirement Age

As the chart shows, the six superstar shortstops over the past 30 years who have hung ’em up did so at an average age of 38.5. That’s up there, especially in baseball age.

While it’s obviously way too soon to speculate on Reyes, Ramirez and Tulowitzki at this point, Jeter (39 years old) and Tejada (39) will only raise that number once they call it quits, and Rodriguez (38) is likely to do the same (depending, of course, on how his appeal, suspension and the aftermath of his involvement in Biogenesis plays out).

That leaves just Rollins (34) among the “old guard,” and his contract is guaranteed through next year and could keep him in Philadelphia through 2015, at which point he would be 36. Barring some injury happening before then, Rollins is likely to bring the average retirement age back down, but only a bit, and it wouldn’t be totally shocking to see him hang around into his late 30s.

The point here is that players who have been truly elite shortstops at one point or another since 1983 have managed to hang around for a long, long time. Part of that is because they’re generally among the more athletic, agile players on the diamond due to the demands of the position, and part of it is because they’re able to extend their careers by moving to another spot (as discussed).

So where does all this leave Jeter? Given the data above and translating it to Jeter’s situation—his advancing age, recent injury issues and a contract that runs only through next season—the end to a Hall of Fame career appears to be right around the corner.

Of course, this is the same guy who led the major leagues in hits last season as a 38-year-old. If anything, Jeter already has proven that the typical decline curve—even among superstar shortstops—doesn’t always apply.

All WAR statistics come from FanGraphs.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

With September only a week away, the playoff picture is starting to come into frame.

There’s still a long way to go—about 34 or 35 games for most teams—but that doesn’t mean we can’t start dreaming about picture-perfect World Series matchups.

With apologies to the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and Oakland Athletics (and even a few others in the wild-card hunt, like the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees), these matchups are going to focus on the six clubs leading their divisions through Friday’s games.

The fact that the American League East is currently a dead heat (win percentage-wise) between the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays complicates things a bit, but the edge goes to the former club, which has led the division for all but 18 days this season.

The Rays are without-a-doubt contenders, but perhaps a Fall Classic between them and the Pittsburgh Pirates—two of Major League Baseball’s smallest-market clubs—would be more wishful thinking than realistic.

While we’re dreaming on that, here’s a rundown of three more likely World Series showdowns—and which team would win.

Boston Red Sox versus Los Angeles Dodgers

This would be quite the potential battle, wouldn’t it? There would be subplots galore, given where both teams were only a year ago when they swapped superstars in one of the most historic trades in baseball history. If these two clubs met in October, the winner would be deemed the “winner” of the trade.

Lineups

Catcher: Jarrod Saltalamacchia has his flaws on defense and against lefty pitchers, but he’s in the midst of his best all-around season, whereas A.J. Ellis is more of a serviceable starter who doesn’t hurt the Dodgers much.

Advantage: Red Sox

First Base: Adrian Gonzalez isn’t the elite hitter he used to be, which is part of the reason the Red Sox unloaded him last August, but he’s much better than Mike Napoli with both the glove and the bat.

Advantage: Dodgers

Second Base: Even with Dustin Pedroia slumping in the second half, Mark Ellis doesn’t quite compare, does he?

Advantage: Red Sox

Third Base: It’s kind of amazing to think that Juan Uribe would win a positional matchup, but he has had a surprisingly solid season, while Boston’s hot corner remains unsettled until Will Middlebrooks (or phenom Xander Bogaerts) stabilizes.

Advantage: Dodgers, barely. For now.

Shortstop: Hanley Ramirez versus Stephen Drew? Please.

Advantage: Dodgers

Outfield: If Matt Kemp were healthy and productive—he’s been neither this season—this would pretty easily be in favor of L.A., thanks to Yasiel Puig’s breakout and Carl Crawford’s bounce back.

Boston’s outfield doesn’t have quite the same star power, but Jacoby Ellsbury is having a great year, while Shane Victorino and Daniel Nava have been quality bookends. 

Advantage: Push, with Kemp as the X factor.

Designated Hitter: Even if Kemp gets back and allows the Dodgers to use Andre Ethier at DH in games played at Dodger Stadium, David Ortiz is winning this head-to-head. No contest.

Advantage: Red Sox

Rotations

The Red Sox likely would line up Jon Lester, Jake Peavy and John Lackey (with Ryan Dempster as the next option) but the injured star, Clay Buchholz, could be the X factor for the Dodgers’ offense. 

Still, it would be hard for Boston’s starters, even with Buchholz back, to best the Dodgers quartet of Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Ricky Nolasco.

Advantage: Dodgers, especially if Buchholz isn’t healthy.

Bullpens

It’s hard to say whether the Red Sox’ Koji Uehara or the Dodgers’ Kenley Jansen—neither of whom started 2013 as their club’s closer, by the way—has had the better season, but Jansen’s overpowering fastball might be more effective in the postseason than Uehara‘s splitter.

As for the rest of the relievers, both teams are stocked with arms you’ve probably never heard of, but the Dodgers have recently acquired Brian Wilson, a former World Series-winning closer, and Paco Rodriguez, an underrated weapon from the left side. The Sox, meanwhile, have Junichi Tazawa…and a bunch of injured relievers (Andrew Bailey, Joel Hanrahan, Andrew Miller, Matt Thornton).

Advantage: Dodgers

Winner

The Dodgers. They have been the hottest team in baseball over the past half-century and then some and because their stars have been healthy (for the most part) and extremely productive. No team in baseball is scarier right now than Los Angeles, who could get even better (gasp) if Kemp can get himself right. 

Detroit Tigers versus Pittsburgh Pirates 

This possible showdown would be between one of the most veteran, postseason-experienced—not to mention, big-market—teams in baseball against a club whose payroll is about half the size and who hasn’t played October baseball since Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera were nine years old.

Lineups

Catcher: Neither backstop is much more than average in any facet, but Russell Martin is just a bit more reliable than Alex Avila.

Advantage: Pirates

First Base: Whether it’s Garrett Jones or Gaby Sanchez doesn’t really matter because Prince Fielder, even in a down year, is just way, way better.

Advantage: Tigers

Second Base: There’s not much separating solid-but-not-spectacular Omar Infante from underrated-and-overlooked Neil Walker, so let’s call it even.

Advantage: Push

Third Base: Pedro Alvarez can impact any game with one swing of the bat, but Miguel Cabrera can impact any game with many swings of the bat.

Advantage: Tigers

Shortstop: There’s not much going on at the middle infield spot for either club, and the opposing shortstops offer less than the second baseman, especially with Jhonny Peralta’s questionable return following the Biogenesis-related suspension. When in doubt, go defense, so Jose Iglesias gets the nod over the Jordy Mercer-Clint Barmes duo.

Advantage: Tigers, but by the slimmest of margins.

Outfield: Both sides have two very good all-around outfielders and one borderline black hole (at least compared to the other spots). The difference is that in addition to breakout left fielder Starling Marte, the Pirates also have an MVP-caliber difference-maker in center fielder Andrew McCutchen. That’s something even Austin Jackson and Torii Hunter can’t offset.

Advantage: Pirates

Designated Hitter: Presumably, the Pirates would use either Jones or Sanchez, but Victor Martinez, who has come on strong over the past two months after a very slow start, is a more dangerous extra hitter when games are at PNC Park.

Advantage: Tigers

Rotations

The Pirates’ biggest strength to this point has been its pitching, with A.J. Burnett and Francisco Liriano leading a staff that would follow up with first-half All-Star Jeff Locke and top-prospect-turned-impact rookie Gerrit Cole.

The top two have pitched well enough to match up with just about any other team’s duo for Games 1 and 2, but Locke has struggled of late and Cole could be overextended—he’s already approaching 150 total innings in his first pro year.

Detroit has five horses, each of whom is playoff-tested and pitching without any limitations. The biggest question for the Tigers might be whether Verlander deserves to get the nod ahead of Max Scherzer, who’s had an incredible year. Regardless, backing them up with Anibal Sanchez and Doug Fister makes it tough for any team to beat Detroit.

Advantage: Tigers

Bullpens

As recently as a month ago, the closer battle would have been anything but, as Jason Grilli was owning the competition, while the Tigers were still hoping to find a ninth-inning answer. But with Grilli still sidelined with arm problems, Mark Melancon doesn’t give the Pirates quite the same edge over the Tigers’ Joaquin Benoit.

Assuming Grilli can make it back and return to form before season’s end—which looks like a possibility, according to Tom Singer of MLB.com—then the rest of Pittsburgh’s “Shark Tank” bullpen can fall into place with quality arms from both the right (Melancon) and left (Tony Watson, Justin Wilson) sides.

Detroit’s relief corps is much improved with Benoit and Jose Veras stabilizing the back end, and Drew Smyly emerging as an elite option among lefties, but the Pirates’ group has been special.

Advantage: Pirates

Winner

Detroit, which is a better all-around team, with more starting pitchers capable of dominating in a short series and with more offensive firepower, thanks to Cabrera and Fielder in the middle of a potent lineup that is leading the majors with 5.1 runs scored per game.

The fact that the Tigers have plenty of postseason experience after last year’s run to the World Series, could also give them an edge over a Pirates team that hasn’t made the playoffs—or had a winning season—since 1992.

Texas Rangers versus Atlanta Braves

This theoretical matchup would pit two of baseball’s most injury-riddled rosters against each other, as the Rangers have been dealing with life without Matt Harrison, Colby Lewis, Alexi Ogando and Lance Berkman (not to mention the suspended Nelson Cruz), while the Braves are currently sans Jason Heyward, Tim Hudson, Dan Uggla, Jonny Venters, Eric O’Flaherty and Brandon Beachy.

Lineups

Catcher: Brian McCann and A.J. Pierzynski are two of the better offensive catchers in the game, but the former’s power edge gives him the slim win.

Advantage: Braves

First Base: For a minute there, it looked like Mitch Moreland was going to have that season some have been anticipating, but instead Freddie Freeman became one of baseball’s breakout first baseman of 2013.

Advantage: Braves

Second Base: Unless Uggla’s LASIK surgery can also close up the holes in his swing, this one goes to Ian Kinsler, who’s a better all-around player, even if he isn’t having a typically good year after dealing with injury to his right side that cost him a month midseason.

Advantage: Rangers

Third Base: As great (and fortunate, as his MLB-high BABIP indicates) as Chris Johnson has been in his best big league season, he’s no Adrian Beltre. And it’s not all that close, either.

Advantage: Rangers

Shortstop: Andrelton Simmons is statistically the most impactful defensive player in the league, and he has shown he is already a better hitter than the meek Elvis Andrus.

Advantage: Braves

Outfield: Ummm, this is a giant question mark on both sides. Atlanta is dealing with Heyward‘s fractured jaw, which could keep him out into the playoffs, and B.J. Upton’s inability to hit even .200, leaving only the streaky-as-all-heck Justin Upton.

Meanwhile, Texas has the emerging Leonys Martin, recently acquired Alex Rios and solid-at-best David Murphy, but is without Cruz, their second-best bat, for the rest of the regular season. What level he’ll be able to perform at after such a long suspension could be the tipping point here. For now, though, it’s too volatile to decide.

Advantage: Push

Designated Hitter: For games at Turner Field, Atlanta is the rare NL team that would actually be able to hang with its AL opponent in the DH department, thanks to Evan Gattis, who is a bigger threat than either Berkman, Murphy or Jurickson Profar.

Advantage: Braves

Rotations

The Rangers’ biggest advantage in this entire matchup would be the fact that Yu Darvish is the only true No. 1 shutdown ace on either rotation—and he could get the chance to own put his MLB strikeout-leading stuff up against one of baseball’s most whiff-tastic lineups around. Texas would also throw trade acquisition Matt Garza and lefty Derek Holland, but after that their staff gets thin quick, even if Ogando can make it back.

Atlanta, by comparison, has a deeper rotation—even without Hudson and Beachy—but Mike Minor, Julio Teheran, Kris Medlen, Paul Maholm or Alex Wood cannot match up with Darvish. Frankly, figuring out which starters the Braves would choose after Minor and Teheran is tricky enough.

Advantage: Rangers, even if it’s just because of Darvish.

Bullpens

While many would argue that the electric Craig Kimbrel is baseball’s best closer—and he might be—he’s not dramatically better than the battle-tested Joe Nathan, so this is one instance where the Braves don’t possess a huge ninth-inning edge.

Of course, Nathan’s playoff track record (9 ER, 14 H in 9 IP) doesn’t exactly help Texas’ case much.

The rest of the pens are pretty evenly matched, as Atlanta can throw righty Jordan Walden and lefties Luis Avilan and Scott Downs. Because of the season-enders to Venters and O’Flaherty, though, the Rangers have a slightly deeper gang, including Tanner Scheppers, Joakim Soria and Jason Frasor from the right side, along with Robbie Ross and Neal Cotts from the left.

Advantage: Push

Winner

The Braves win out at the position breakdown and have the better closer, but their more recent injury issues are a real concern going forward. As would be their ability to actually make contact against Darvish. If Cruz, who has been a postseason monster in recent years, can regain his pre-suspension form, this matchup might all add up to that elusive first title in franchise history for the Rangers.

Who would win these potential World Series matchups? What other showdowns would you most like to see in October?

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Watch a ballgame or engage in a discussion about the sport, and there’s a good chance you’ll hear the phrase “back of the baseball card” uttered somewhere along the line.

The term is often used to explain that a streaking or slumping player will eventually perform somewhere in line with his career numbers, which can be found—you guessed it—on the back of his baseball card.

It can also be used to convey respect toward a player by saying something like, “The back of Albert Pujols’ baseball card speaks for itself.”

That second application is true: The numbers on the back of a baseball card can tell us a lot about a player. Pick up a Topps or an Upper Deck, flip it over, and—voila—you can find out what a player’s career batting average is, the most RBI he tallied in a single season and how many errors he’s made.

But maybe it’s time to put a new spin on this age-old expression by altering the statistics printed on the back of baseball cards.

With the rise in popularity and accessibility of sabermetrics over the past decade or two, the way the sport is being evaluated has changed—statistics like batting average, RBI and errors have lost some ground to many advanced metrics.

Even though the baseball card industry isn’t necessarily thriving like it once did a generation or two ago, the “back of the baseball card” phrase is still a part of the sport’s lexicon. That’s perfectly fine—it’s a charming little idiom—but in the interest of keeping up with the times, perhaps the numbers, digits and figures that are on the other side of the player’s picture should be…updated.

Obviously, all basic info, such as team, date of birth, weight and height won’t be going anywhere, and there’s probably still enough room to include one or two of those “fun facts.” But otherwise, what follows is a crack at the stats and metrics that should be the ones alluded to whenever someone says “back of the baseball card.”

For Hitters

Games (G): It’s as simple a stat as there is, but it’s helpful to know how much a player actually, you know, plays.

Plate Appearances (PA): Plate appearances instead of at-bats, because many of the rate statistics below actually come from using PA instead of AB, a stat that doesn’t include walks, sacrifice flies and hit-by-pitches.

Batting Average/On-Base Percentage/Slugging Percentage (BA/OBP/SLG): Because on-base percentage and slugging percentage better indicate how effective a batter is, they need to be presented along with batting average in the ideal “triple-slash” manner.

Runs (R): This stat is still the name of the game.

Doubles/Triples/Home Runs (2B/3B/HR): Similar to the triple-slash stats, it’s helpful to see the counting totals for doubles, triples and homers right alongside each other.

Stolen Bases/Caught Stealing (SB/CS): This way, it’s clear exactly how frequently a player attempts a stolen base—and how frequently he’s successful.

Batting Average on Balls in Play (BABIP): The first new-age metric listed, BABIP measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits. For context, the league-wide average is usually around .295-.300, and the prevailing thought is that most players’ BABIPs will eventually regress to that mean.

Any player whose BABIP is well above that (i.e. .330 or higher) is likely to eventually see his batting average drop, while any player who is well below that (i.e. .260 or lower) is likely to eventually see his batting average rise.

Walk Percentage/Strikeout Percentage (BB%/K%): In short, the former (BB%) is the percentage of plate appearances in which a player walks, and the latter (K%) is the percentage of plate appearances in which a player strikes out. For context, a BB percent of eight is about average, with anything higher than that above average, while a K percent of about 18-20 is average, with above average being anything below that.

Ultimate Zone Rating/Defensive Runs Saved (UZR/DRS): Move over, errors! UZR includes factors like range, arm and errors to produce a counting metric that puts a run value to defense, where zero is average, anything higher than that is above average (15-20 is elite) and anything lower is below average.

DRS, meanwhile, is based on adding and subtracting the number of times any given play is made (or not made) by a player at a position compared to the average at that position. Like UZR, zero is average, and anything higher is above average (15-20 is elite). (Both UZR and DRS are compiled by Baseball Info Solutions.)

Wins Above Replacement (WAR): An all-encompassing advanced metric, WAR may, in fact, be the best and easiest statistic for measuring and quantifying the value any given player brings to his team based on all of his contributions across all facets of baseball—including hitting, pitching, baserunning, defense, etc. A WAR of 2.0 is about average, with anything higher being above average, and anything 6.0 or better signifying MVP-caliber.

To help visualize the 10 categories above, here’s a sample of what the back of Mike Trout’s baseball card would look like:

You’ll notice that RBI are not listed above. This is not an oversight.

While that statistic could easily enough be included, it’s also a flawed number that is based more on a player’s surrounding lineup (i.e. how often players ahead of him get on base) as well as his ability to drive in runs in such situations (which doesn’t show much year-to-year correlation).

This exercise isn’t all about adding new stats into the back of baseball cards—it’s about eliminating some, too.

For Pitchers

Games/Games Started/Innings Pitched (G/GS/IP): Presenting these three stats in slashed succession helps to quickly and clearly assess whether the pitcher is a starter or reliever and how many innings he throws per outing. 

Earned Run Average/Fielding-Independent Pitching (ERA/FIP): This is a mix of old-school and new-school stats displayed adjacently. ERA is a staple stat, but FIP, which is scaled to look like ERA and is based on factors that are under a pitcher’s control (strikeouts, walks, home runs), is a better indicator of actual performance.

A pitcher with an ERA well below his FIP likely has been lucky to an extent, whereas a pitcher has likely been unlucky if his ERA is higher than his FIP.

Walks and Hits Per Innings Pitched (WHIP): This one became popular around the turn of the century, and it’s still a good sign of how many baserunners a pitcher is allowing per inning.

Batting Average Against (BAA): Another stat that has been around for a long time, BAA is basically batting average—the number of hits allowed divided by the number of at-bats—but for pitchers.

Batting Average on Balls in Play (BABIP): See above for the explanation of the metric. As for context, it’s the opposite for pitchers compared to hitters: A pitcher with a BABIP that is far below league average (i.e. .260 or lower) will see his BAA start to rise as more hits fall in, but a pitcher whose BABIP is far above league average (i.e. .330 or higher) will see his BAA drop eventually.

Strikeout Percentage/Walk Percentage (K%/BB%): While strikeouts per nine (K/9) and walks per nine (BB/9) may be more familiar, K% and BB% are more useful and telling, because they use the total number of batters faced (and not innings pitched) as the denominator when it comes to determining how often a pitcher strikes out or walks the opposition. For context, 18.0 percent is average for a strikeout rate, while eight percent is average for a walk rate.

Home Runs Per Nine (HR/9): Fairly straightforward, this is how many home runs a pitcher surrenders per nine innings. This makes it easier to compare two starters who have a large disparity in the number of innings pitched, or even to compare a starter to a reliever. Anything around 1.0 is average.

Ground-Ball Percentage/Fly-Ball Percentage (GB%/FB%): In recent years, there’s been more of an emphasis on batted-ball data. In general, it’s preferable for pitchers to get more grounders and fewer fly balls (which are more likely to turn into extra-base hits and/or home runs). In general, a GB percent of 45 percent is about average, and the elite ground-ballers are north of 50 percent.

Shutdowns/Meltdowns (SD/MD): Forget saves! Shutdowns and meltdowns are the newest of all the statistics mentioned in this piece, but they need to catch on quickly so saves aren’t the be-all and end-all when it comes to evaluating relievers. 

As FanGraphs explains it, SD and MD essentially answer the question: “Did a relief pitcher help or hinder his team’s chances of winning a game?” It’s a little more complicated than that—and requires knowledge of another metric, Win Probability Added (WPA)—but it’s arguably easier to comprehend than the oddly defined save statistic, and it’s a truer measure of reliever effectiveness, since it puts closers on equal footing with all other relievers. Contextually, shutdowns are similar to saves (30-plus is elite).

Wins Above Replacement (WAR): See above for the explanation of and context for the metric.

Again, for the more visual learners, this is how Matt Harvey’s card would appear:

One prominent pitcher statistic was missing. Did you notice?

That’s right: wins.

Sorry, but pitcher wins (and losses) is perhaps the flukiest, flimsiest stat in baseball. There are too many outside factors that can influence whether a pitcher registers a win or loss.

The other metric that would be worthwhile to include for pitchers is left on-base percentage (LOB%), but in the interest of keeping the backs of these revamped baseball cards uniform, let’s stick with an even 10 stats for both hitters and pitchers.

At least for now.

There are already plenty of changes and alterations proposed above—any more, and we might have to suggest the stick of chewing gum be added back into packs of baseball cards.

What statistics belong on the back of baseball cards? State your case in the comments.

All statistics, metrics and definitions come from FanGraphs.

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