Professionally I work in the Pharmaceutical field with drug discovery. I use similar statistical analysis in the research for better cancer fighting drugs. I am also the author of the blog LogicFTW.
Also send suggestions/questions to my email TroyPatterson@rotosavants.com
Lee Perrault (Writer and Editor) - I've always looked at baseball like religion. It was something you get born into, passed down from your family. There's no real reason why your loyalty to the sport and your team exist. You just do it and love it no matter what, and like a religion, it has may questions and conflicting ideas people never question. The value of RBIs, AVG w/RISP, "Clutchness", you name it.
When I started learning more about the game, and specifically seeing all the intricate mathematical nuances, I began to look for reasons. Much like evolution, I tried to see how players evolved from their little tiny scared minor league shells. How do we discover when hitters harness power? Why does a strikeout pitcher get himself out of tons of jams more than the Frank Castillos of baseball? Why is just saying "he's a winner" or "he's scrappy" not enough anymore? Oh right, because it's a made up piece of crap.
I've never been satisfied with anything in life by just "believing" in truths. I've always felt that the key to learning is to challenge everything you encounter. By looking at it with a critical eye, you become more educated and appreciate it more. That's how I've felt about baseball. Home runs are fun, but now I understand the beauty and importance of a walk. Wins and Losses drive the standings, but now I understand that a W is multifaceted and a function of many different things, and especially explains why Dice K is so damn overrated.
It started with Moneyball, "The Book", and with Baseball Prospectus. Since then I look at myself as a baseball scientist, and I've never looked back.
Rotosavants gave me the opportunity to express this to the fantasy community as well as to the general baseball community. My goal is to stamp out the writers and "experts" that think casual observation, hokey religions of baseball thought, and ancient metrics trumps facts, research, and a willingness to always question the status quo. The old ways are no match when sabermetrics is at your side.
Kevin Jebens (Writer and Editor) - Kevin has been playing fantasy baseball since 2000. Although he started with rotisserie leagues and enjoys them the most, he found his niche in points and head-to-head leagues, winning both the first time he tried them. (Ironically, a first-place rotisserie trophy still eludes him.) Basing his own strategy on the sabermetric philosophy of looking beyond the common stats, Kevin takes pride in his ability to look at numbers and stats that are provided by league pages but that most managers ignore.
His favorite fantasy achievement is from the 2008 season, when he took over a team nearly two thirds of the way through the offline draft. The team was destined for a bottom-place finish, with picks of Mike Lowell and Dontrelle Willis in the top third rounds, and Melky Cabrera and Ken Griffey in the middle rounds. Kevin was able to turn the terrible team into a playoff contender, reaching second place in the regular season standings and ending with a third-place playoff finish.
In his spare time from absorbing everything baseball, Kevin edits both fiction and nonfiction manuscripts for a publication services company.
Aaron Murray (Writer)- I actually came to baseball somewhat late in life since, born in Indiana, I was a basketball fan by default but never took to it. I didn’t fall in love with America’s past time until just after college while listening to games on the radio (thank god for Joe Castiglione) and since then I’ve been on a continuing quest to understand the game better by searching for the deepest understanding and analysis available.
Perhaps my proudest fantasy moment was winning the very first roto league I entered by taking the lead for the first time on the second to last day of the season…from my brother…who had led for literally 95% of the season.. He’s still pretty bitter about that..
When not studying and enjoying the game of baseball - the intricacies of FIP v. tRA are great brain food but nothing beats watching a line drive up the gap with a speedy runner on first in a close game - I also study the game of poker and write plays and screenplays.
Ryan Restivo (Writer/Editor) - Ryan is fresh out of college and loves baseball. You could say baseball is almost like a full time job for him. After spending a thorough 9 months at his first job helping to test many fantasy products, Ryan took a job that got him even deeper immersed in watching baseball. In order to pass the time between seasons Ryan follows two other sports: College Basketball and Football. Fantasy Football, is after all, just a bridge between the dead periods of baseball's offseason.
Ryan played in 9 leagues in 2009 and will likely restrict that number to 4 or less in 2010. Ryan is in one long-time keeper league and finishes in the bottom third of the pack thanks to a failed strategy of pitcher valuation and hopes this year will be the year he turns his poor draft luck around. Ryan did one live auction draft in 2009, was tied for the league lead in trades (6) and finished in 3rd place.
Ryan is proud write about Fantasy Baseball on RotoSavants. When not writing about Fantasy Baseball, Ryan can be found writing about the Siena Saints at SienaSaintsBlog.com, covering the Colonial Athletic Association for RushTheCourt.net or giving his own personal musings on books, tv, movies and more at RyanRestivo.com.
Corey Dawkins (Contributor)- Professionally, I'm currently Head Athletic Trainer who has been in the field for getting close to 10 years, working with collegiate athletes at both the Division I and Division III level. I worked DI football for the majority of the time along with working baseball while I was at that D-I college. I then moved to a D-III school in Boston where I became the Head Athletic Trainer. My interest has always been injuries in baseball, so it comes as no surprise to those around me, that I did my thesis on Shoulder and Elbow injuries in baseball pitchers. Ever since then, I've tried to keep up on the new data that is constantly coming forward.
Fantasy wise, I have been playing fantasy baseball for more than 15 years now and for many of those years with the other authors of the site. In our league which is extremely competitive, I have won and also finished in the top 3 several years.
I know that the Pitch FX information is the next step in fantasy baseball injury analysis. Combining this with DL data, my goal is to provide fantasy baseball owners with the competitive advantage of knowing when a pitcher is fatigued or more likely to be injured.
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