Interview with Royals Review Editor Jeff Zimmerman

Superbly impressed by a one Mr. Jeff Zimmerman’s interviews with the Royals’ front office, it got me to thinking, “How do we define what bloggers do, and what place do they really hold in the baseball world?” I think so many of us stumble upon Royals Review, glance at a few articles, and, like most things in life, never truly understand how all of the pieces work, or why they work. So…I set out to do exactly what Jeff did, interview somebody, starting with him, because he works on many baseball websites and could provide a blueprint for the modern Sabermetrician. This process was done over the course of several daily emails. Enjoy.

Jeff, give me the quick and dirty, what exactly is it that you do for Royals Review and FanGraphs (or any other baseball blogs)?

For Royals Review, I am to have a preview and post game write up for a couple of set games a week. Also I am to write a couple of other articles a week. I enjoy following the Royals and this is my easiest writing assignment.

For Fangraphs, I have a couple of "jobs". For the Rotographs (fantasy), I am required to have a couple of articles a week. Also, I host "FanGraphs After Dark" on Tuesday nights with Paul Swydan and Chris Cwik. Next, I help people with research. Recently, I helped a few authors work on some aging curves. Finally, I am putting together a database of all current salaries that will be available at FG hopefully before the start of the season. Once all those are done, I will try to write an article for the main site.

I still put up a few shorter items at BeyondTheBoxscore (where I started). Fangraphs requires a minimum number of words for an article. Sometimes a point can be made much quicker.

Also, I started BaseballHeatMaps.com. I like its potential, but I have had to neglect it for a while.

Is there any money in baseball blogging?

You can't make a living off of it for sure. I use it as a part time job while staying home with my kids. It is not much more than beer (for me) or flower (my wife) money. I started doing it for free, so any money on top of nothing is icing on the cake.

Aren't you also like a nuclear physicist or some such?

Nuclear Physicist, no. I didn't design anything. I did though operate nuclear reactors for a few years while in the Navy. I loved the travel while in the Navy, I hated that job.

How did you get started with FanGraphs and Royals Review?

RoyalsReview - I started following Royals Review after writing at Beyond The Boxscore. One day Will sent me an email if I wanted to help and I said yes. For Fangraphs, Appelman asked for people to help with an injury database project. I got selected and once it was completed, I stayed on writing for him.

Why are advanced statistics so important to modern sports?

Advanced stats try to get to get to a deeper understanding of the game. While WAR is not perfect, it tries to give a value to the different aspects of a player’s contributions.

What is one advanced stat people overlook when it comes to pitchers? Batters?

Pitchers: K% and BB% in stead of K/9 and BB/9. It seems like they are similar, but the %'s show more of the pitcher's ability to handle batted balls.

Batters: BABIP and xBABIP - A better understand if a player’s AVG is out of whack from batted ball luck or drop in talent.

You recently interviewed Jin Wong, Director of Baseball Administration for the Royals, and Mike Swanson, Vice President of Communications and Broadcasting for the Royals, exclusively for www.royalsreview.com. That was a crowning moment in Royals Review history for me. How did you manage to pull that off? And are there more interviews to come?

I just emailed the team asking to interview Wong to clear up some misconceptions, said who I was, and they agreed. I was a little surprised they said yes, but I am glad they did. I see more interviews in the future. I am trying to get an interview with the new pitching coach.

A lot of statistics were mentioned in those interviews, but weren't fully discussed. Do you think there is a reluctance to discuss advanced statistics in a media setting? And if so, why do you think that may be?

I don't think that teams want to give away what they are doing to evaluate players. I think they saw what happened with Moneyball, when all teams began to value OBP differently, and don't want that to happen to them.

Let's get hypothetical. The Royals hire you as the explains-stats-guy voice on the radio. Denny says, "Jeff Francoeur posted a 2.7 WAR in 2011, here is our resident statistician to explain WAR..." How do you convey the information in that setting?

WAR means wins over replacement level player. A replacement level player is a player that would probably be a AAAA player/bench/utility player. Mitch Maier is an example. WAR looks at how many more wins a player is over this replacement level player by looking at the player's offense, defense, base running, difficulty of position and playing time.

Another hypothetical: the Royals decide to expand their statistician/analysis team by 5 members from the blogosphere. What 5 people should they choose and what should they get paid? (Please feel free to toot your own horn. I'm begging you.)

Tom Tango - We would have to hire him away from Mariners. One of the smartest minds out there and has created a ton of stats.

Mitchel Lichtman - Another great mind. He created UZR and several other stats.

Mike Fast - Pitch FX stud. There is no one better.

Justin Bopp - I would want a visual guy to help put together the information, that he understand, from the others for the team to use.

Bill James - While some of his facts are a little dated, he has been working in baseball for years. He has probably forgot more than the other 4 people know. He would be in charge of the group.

It would probably take 100K or more to get the first 3 to bite and move to KC. Having working with Justin, I figured it would take a little less since he is already in the KC area. For Bill James, it may take over 200K to get him out of Boston.

The Royals drafted local high school star Bubba Starling with their first pick recently. Are there any high school statistics that objectively "mean" anything?

Not in Kansas for sure, the talent level is too weak. Some data from leagues in California may be useful, but I am not sure.

When does a player's minor league statistics become translatable to the major leagues? Is there a scientific way to describe why a player's AAA stats mean more that his A ball stats, other than "better competition"?

First, the player's stats are probably closer to their talent level the closer they are to the big leagues. The key though is the quality of talent. Most of the players that are in AAA are capable of being in the majors at some point. The pitchers throw good pitches (might only have one or two good ones). The hitters are able to hit fastballs.

Jeff, you must know what you’re talking about. During this interview process, Mike Fast was hired by the Houston Astros. Wow. Big win. Can you explain your thoughts on the hire?

Great hire by the Astros. Mike was by far the best Pitch FX mind out there. I am amazed it took a team this long to hire him.

I see some interesting reports at www.baseballheatmaps.com that indicate Adrian Gonzalez and Victor Martinez may have lost some power according to fly ball distances. Where do you get your raw data from? How confident are you that it is accurate?

The raw data is available in the raw Pitch FX data. It is the same information that you see on MLB Gameday. I just changed the data from an x-y value to a distance and direction value.

Since this interview process began, I have been scouring Fan Graphs. I tell you, I couldn't be more intrigued by the ability to easily create my own WAR graphs and play an uber form of fantasy baseball called Ottoneu. Can you give me a couple of fantasy baseball tips?

Wait on drafting pitching. No need to rush in.

Tier your players. For example Cano, Kinsler and Pedroia are all going to put up similar stats. There is no need to reach for any of them. Look to get the last one available. If you don't, wait until the last player available in the next tier.

Find below average hitters at the top of the lineup on good hitting teams. They will rake in the R and RBIs (see Melky Cabrera)

I have come a long way in understanding what advanced statistics can do for the game of baseball since first logging on to Royals Review. What do you recommend for first-timers that are interested in baseball and further understanding of the statistical basis behind the modern Sabermetric movement?

It is a little over whelming at times. I would take it in pieces. One great way to get a decent understanding is to look into each of the components of WAR. If you have some understanding of each of the components and sorta where the numbers come from, it would be a good base knowledge level.

Thank you so much for your time. Jeff Zimmerman everyone!