Usual suspects dominate early BABS leaderboard

[MEMBERS ONLY] Memorial Day is the point in the calendar when I’ve typically advised readers to start taking the standings seriously. There is no magic to this day. In fact, from a statistical significance perspective, it’s really a random, mostly insignificant marker.

But BABS does like to take a peek to see how players are doing. We can’t place a whole lot of credence in these early ratings because the playing time samples are still way too small. Add in the number of players who have spent time on the IL and that cuts into the PT even more. As of last week, 42 percent of those ranked in the pre-season ADP Top 300 have already spent some time on the IL.

When you see names like Fernandez Tatis, Jr. and Gerrit Cole atop the early BABS leaderboards, it’s comforting to know there are some things you can count on. But there are also plenty of other early surgers that we will need to track. How real are the fast starts from Adolis Garcia, Jazz Chisolm and Byron Buxton (Whoops! Hurt again!)?

On the pitching side, there are 10 other players in the same asset group as Cole. Seeing Tyler Glasnow and Freddy Peralta there is no surprise to those who heeded BABS’ advice two months ago. But can Joe Musgrove and Carlos Rodon keep up their pace? Time will tell.

And time is what we need to gain more confidence in these ratings. The next database update will likely come around the All Star Break.

Click here to access the database. Make sure the year is set to 2021 and the Report Type is set to In-Season Rankings (batter or pitcher). There are two relevant sorts you can choose now — alpha and BABS.

And again, use with caution.