Talking Chop’s favorite fanposts of 2019

Yes, we do this recap every year. Yes, it’s a great time to reflect on all of the awesome content the TC commentariat produced during this trip around the sun. I’m thankful that there are so many people generating awesome stuff for us to read and ponder, so if you missed these and want to do more than dig your nails into your palms regarding the latest Josh Donaldson rumors, take a look.

January

The Legend of Old Hoss Radbourn - a great (and excellently-written) trip to a prior century with a odd-named but remarkable fellow.

Relievers for Dummies: How to Sign the Highest-Risk Asset - bullpen signings are always debated in the offseason. This is more evidence that casts some serious aspersions onto whether committing money in that direction is a good idea.

February

Five Bold Predictions: A 2018 Review - an ever-present highlight of these lists, I always enjoy BravesRays’ recaps of the always-engrossing Five Bold Predictions from yesteryear as much as I do actually thinking of what I’m going to do for the next year.

Why Do So Many People Misspell McCutchen? An Investigation. - possibly the most important fanpost of our time.

Film Room: The Evolution of Cristian Pache’s Swing - big thanks (and props) to calcheyup for this detailed breakdown of pretty much what the title says, with photographic evidence that makes differences pretty clear.

March

Regressed Platoon Splits for 2019 Braves - the sort of thing that’s useful to have every year, even if the Braves themselves don’t seem to care about it much.

Here We Go Again: Five Bold Predictions, 2019 Edition - the companion piece to the other post on this topic above, this is worth a review by everyone this offseason who wants to snicker or pound their chest.

TC Free Agent Match Game: And the winner is...... - I did terribly here, but it did lead me to do a retrospective evaluation of my algorithm where I found that Jon Heyman (go figure) did better at predicting the salary, length, and destination team than anything else.

I CAN SEE CLEERLY NOW SPRING TRAYNING IS GONE: MY COLLUM - what list would be complete without BobWickmansBeerGut’s contribution?

April

Luke Jackson - Spin Rate & Velo (SSS sirens blaring) - Luke Jackson went from maligned replacement-level reliever to bullpen savior in 2019. This was an early look at what changed, that predated many looks at the same after Jackson had plied his improved trade for months.

Baseball is 90% financial the other half is physical: The Craig Kimbrel Story - FONZY541 takes us on a brief adventure regarding the tradeoffs of signing a player whose signing comes with Qualifying Offer penalties. Separately from this, I feel bad for the Cubs.

What have the Braves hitters deserved? and What have the Braves pitchers deserved? - I wish I had these, from Bill Dennis, for every month. The charts at the bottom are wonderful and inspired.

Our #9 pick isn’t a must-sign one, people. - maybe the greatest TC commentariat success story of 2019: doing the legwork to figure out something that basically everyone in the industry (beat reporters, analysts, and even team officials) were wrong about. I’m always iffy about thinking of TC as journalism, but this was journalism and a team effort.

A way too early look at FA Relievers that ATL didn’t sign - oh boy. I don’t think this got too much better as time went on, either.

May

Is it Time I Start Trusting Luke Jackson? - Jackson was a popular fanpost topic for the reasons noted above. Never trust any reliever, though.

June

Everyone was too busy enjoying the Braves laying waste to their opponents in June to make fanposts, I guess.

July

Dansby Swanson and the Slider - Swanson was better in 2019, and this was a big reason why.

August

Rules Roundup: Suspended and Called Games - Cornutt always breaks down MLB rules arcana in easy-to-understand ways. I just wish there wasn’t so much rules arcana to begin with.

The Braves and the seven-player triple play - yes, this happened, once upon a time.

September

How the Braves destroyed the projections - has a twist ending, and is important reading if you want to understand the context of the Braves’ 2020 campaign in light of their 2019 season.

October

SILENTS THE HATERS AND DOWTERS - the legend they call BWBG returns.

What the Talking Chop Community Has Meant to Me, A Lurker, This Season - we love you too, whether you lurk, or you post. Or you just exist. It’s all good.

The Braves 2019 Rule 5 Draft Roster Decisions - the ultimate resource for this sort of thing.

November

The Community Prospect List dominated this month. Just a huge thank you, as usual, to rajah for stewarding the process diligently. I honestly have no idea who most of the people on these lists are anymore, but voting keeps rolling along.

December

Lamentations of an Atlanta Sports Fan - what’s the poetry equivalent of something that sounds like a funeral dirge?