This is just plain awesome.

 

Article -

Introducing the Interactive Spray Chart Tool | FanGraphs Baseball

 

Direct link to tool -

Workbook: Spray Chart Comparison

Just to see what I could see, I tried Justin Morneau. I got to say, I didn't see much didfference in the charts between his 2012 & 2013 season. That surprised me considering that the statistical results seemed so much worse in 2013.

Just to see what I could see, I tried Justin Morneau. I got to say, I didn't see much didfference in the charts between his 2012 & 2013 season. That surprised me considering that the statistical results seemed so much worse in 2013.

 

Morneau's chart wasn't drastically different. But the tool does allow you to select by zone, i.e. slivers of the field going from home plate to the outfield, and maybe that makes it easier to spot small changes. Try turning off all the zones, then turn them back on one at a time, say starting with zone #1 (down the 3rd base line) and 2 and 3, plus 11, 12, and 13 (down the other line). Seems to me it makes clearer that when he made outs Justin was going the opposite field a bit more in 2013. Don't know if it qualifies as a significant change, or what use to make of that insight; SSS is a risk.

 

Picking someone like Jason Kubel who had a qualitatively different season in 2013 than 2012 maybe is a bit more interesting to look at (when he pulled the ball he had trouble getting it to the outfield grass), but then you don't necessarily need a tool when a guy is going just plain badly.

I bookmarked it... Thanks Snepp... Tip of the cap to you sir.