We Love Stats, But What Are We Missing?
We Love Stats, But What Are We Missing?  
Podcast: Rates & Barrels: A show about Baseball
Published On: Wed Jan 07 2026
Description: Eno, DVR, and Jed discuss ongoing RSN trouble the likely impact on several teams this winter before looking at a few things that the stats we love might be missing. They also discuss a report from Patrick Mooney that the Cubs are nearing a deal for Edward Cabrera. Plus, they examine a few mailbag questions including the difficulty of maintaining a change in swing tilt, and what hitters with high in-zone contact rates and low outside-the-zone contact rates, inspired by the small-sample results from Red Sox infielder Marcelo Mayer in his big-league debut. Finally, they share a few of their favorite bobbleheads in honor of 'National Bobblehead Day'. Rundown1:42 More RSN Troubles For Nine Teams 13:34 What Are the Numbers Missing?20:58 Yet Again, the Wind is More Important That We Thought?25:45 Matchup Difficulty Relative to Team Quality (Do Bad Teams Face Tougher Pitching?)43:05 Edward Cabrera: Nearing a Trade to Cubs48:27 How Easy/Difficult Is It to Maintain Swing Tilt Changes?54:31 Good Zone Contact%, Terrible Chase Contact% PlayersRelated Stories'Nine MLB teams’ TV money in jeopardy as FanDuel networks continue to struggle'Evan Drellich & Katie Woo from The Athletic ($): https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6948445'Tommy Pham makes his case for MLB’s next big metric: He calls it PhamGraphs'Eno & Will Sammon from The Athletic ($):https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6940461'Cubs set to acquire Edward Cabrera from Marlins in trade: Source' Patrick Mooney ($): https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6950352Follow Eno on Bluesky: @enosarris.bsky.socialFollow DVR on Bluesky: @DVR.bsky.socialFollow Jed on Instagram: @jed.lowriee-mail: ratesandbarrels@gmail.comJoin our Discord: https://discord.gg/FyBa9f3wFeSubscribe to The Athletic: theathletic.com/ratesandbarrelsHosts: Derek VanRiper & Eno SarrisWith: Jed Lowrie Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.