Top 5 Football Teams and Why?

Lets have a little bit of fun on a May Friday, shall we?If you dont know what a barrel is by now, take a look here. I will also be referring to Barrel FIP a lot, so if you dont know what that is, look here.What I will attempt to do in the following is to explain why each winning team has succeeded so far, whether surprising or not, with a barrel fact. I will also attempt to explain why each losing team has failed so far using the same manner.To define a winning or losing team, I will keep it simple, and just use if the team is above or below .500. For every team above the even mark, I will describe a positive barrel stat. For every team below, I will do the opposite. Next week Ill switch it up and do the opposite.As for the one team exactly at .500 (which might be the biggest surprise of all) well, youll have to read down the list to find out what I do with them.*Teams listed in MLB recordHouston Astros 2411I have to cheat a little bit while using my Top 25 Barrel FIP Leaderboard (and again, please check it out!), but the Astros are the only team to have three qualified starting pitchers in the Top 26.After Thursday nights dominant performance against the New York Yankees, Dallas Keuchel moved within .006 of being placed in the Top 25. So, Ill cheat a little, but regardless, the Houston rotation has been great no matter what list youre perusing.Lance McCullers ranks 24th on the list with a 3.50 BFIP, helped by an impressive 20 K%-BB% mark. But surprisingly its cast-off Charlie Morton who has been the top pitcher on the team according to this metric.Mortons 3.37 BFIP ranks 19th in MLB and has been carried by his extreme barrel allowed rate only five of 175 hitters have barreled Morton in 2017.Baltimore Orioles 2211Much like the back-of-the-baseball-card statistics, the Orioles do not jump off the page with any great barrel numbers.I will have to go to one of the most important faces in baseball one that should not be thrown at and say Manny Machado is sixth in all of baseball with 15 barrels.Who have six of his 15 been against? You guessed it, the Boston Red Sox.New York Yankees 2111When talking about barrels in 2017, there is one name dominating the conversation: Aaron Judge.Judge leads all of baseball with 18 barrels, and has been the leader so long its made my job very difficult in finding an interesting stat to tweet out from @MLBBarrelAlert each morning.Judge not only leads in barrels, but also barrel rate by over a percentage point from the next closest on the list (14.4 percent).Washington Nationals 2212For three straight teams I am going to have to focus on a single player, but I suppose you can make the case the two above are leaders in the early season MVP conversation.As is Ryan Zimmerman over in the National League. Zimmerman is one short of Judge with 17 barrels of his own, an incredible outburst from a player who was written off by many after the 2016 season.Colorado Rockies 2313Of course after writing about three position players, it makes complete sense when moving to the Rockies to talk about pitching?!?The entire Rockies pitching staff places sixth among MLB teams in BFIP, but they place second in the league in barrels allowed per plate appearance.Now the high altitude at Coors turns even those which arent barrels into extra bases so there is a large difference between the staffs ERA and BFIP, but the Rockies have done a great job in limiting hard contact.St. Louis Cardinals 1914The Cardinals dont have many individual names on the top of the barrel leaderboard, but as per the Cardinal Way they are receiving contribution up and down the lineup.The Cardinals place second in the NL behind only the Washington Nationals in team barrel percentage at an even five percent.Los Angeles Dodgers 2015The Dodgers pitching staff is just plain filthy. Their team BFIP is 3.07 over half a run lower than the second best team in all of baseball. Even with their extreme health problems, they still continue to pitch wonderfully.They have the highest K% in the league and the second best BB%, showing impressive plate command, but they also lead the league in barrels allowed rate.Its shocking this team is only five games over.Cincinnati Reds 1915The Reds have the eighth best bullpen BFIP in the league, and while that may not seem as incredible as the previous stats Ive named, take a minute to check out last seasons numbers from the Cincinnati pen.Playing in another home stadium bandbox, which doesnt allow homers at quite the rate of Coors but still substantial enough, shows the pen lessening the amount of hard hit balls is absolutely crucial.Raisel Igelsias has led the way; his 19 1/3 innings is the second highest mark for all pitchers who have yet to allow a barrel this season.Arizona Diamondbacks 2016After Zack Greinkes flirt with a no-hitter Thursday evening, he has now moved up the BFIP Leaderboard to fifth place, an incredible bounce-back from a down 2016.Greinke is not the only DBacks pitcher on the list, as trade acquisition Taijuan Walker is 23rd.Minnesota Twins 1714Miguel San has added himself to the list of premiere power hitters in the game. His 14 barrels and his 11.02 barrel percent place him seventh in all of baseball.Cleveland Indians 1815If it werent for the Dodgers, it would be the Indians on top of the team BFIP list. Considering they come out of the American League, maybe we can reason they have been just as impressive.While the Dodgers have Kershaw, it hasnt been a single name hoisting the staff in Cleveland, especially with Corey Kluber on the disabled list. Regardless, their 3.61 BFIP puts them on top of the AL.Boston Red Sox 1816As much as the Dodgers lead all of MLB in the team rankings, Chris Sale does the same on the individual list. Sale is currently is on top of the leaderboard with a 1.72 BFIP, a spot hes been holding essentially since Opening Day.Detroit Tigers 1716As I was writing my notes for this piece Thursday night while watching baseball, I had to wait for the conclusion of the Tigers game to decide which side of .500 theyd end up on. They beat the Angels 71, so they will have something nice written about them for today.The Tigers lead all of baseball with a 6.24 barrel rate, nearly a percentage point higher than the next closest team.Milwaukee Brewers 1817For the first time in this column, I will bring up team defense, as I am not fully sure how significant these numbers are to make any assumptions. But I had to share this data point.The Brewers slugging percentage allowed on barrels in play yes, thats a thing Ive looked into is 1.609. Only one team has a higher mark the Pittsburgh Pirates at 1.632.To put that in perspective, the average mark allowed in the league is .945; the two NL Central teams are flying off the chart.Now, this may not seem like a positive statistic for the Brewers, who are indeed sitting above .500, but I do think there is some definite regression headed their way. If so, their struggling pitching, which has been their downfall, may be due for an upturn in the near future. See? Positive thoughts.Chicago Cubs 1717Since there are only 14 teams above .500, I will stay positive with the Cubs today and give their fans a boost with their somewhat disappointing record.Despite the media freaking out about the pitching staffs dwindling velocity, they have actually been quite good. The Cubs team ranks fifth in all of baseball in BFIP with a 3.76 mark.Seattle Mariners 1718Will James Paxton return to the same level he was pitching when he returns from injury? ()The Mariners also had to wait for their result Thursday night to see which side of .500 theyd fall on. They lost, so they will be the first team I have to go negative with.Since it was a close call, maybe youll forgive me for not going too gray sky with this figure.James Paxton ranks second in all of baseball in BFIP. Thats good, right? Well no, because he finds himself (once again) on the disabled list. It shouldnt be a long stay this time, but no matter how great Paxton is it will always be taken with a grain of salt. Paxton has spent as much time on the disabled list as he has off of it during his career. It will be hard to trust him moving forward.New York Mets 1617Since everyone else is doing it, I will pick on Matt Harvey. Harvey has the tenth worst BFIP in all of baseball, a far cry from the levels the Dark Knight once reached. He pitches tonight, and can hopefully start righting his season, but from his performance thus far in 2017 on and off the field its hard to like his odds.Oakland Athletics 1618Its difficult to find a negative barrel stat for the As. They are absolutely mashing the baseball and have found a few sneaky pitchers to lift their rotation.Instead Ill just have to refer to their health and maybe the teams unwillingness to win thats keeping the best team off the field. Jharel Cotton, who sports a 3.54 BFIP, was optioned down to the minors on Thursday. He will join Andrew Triggs and Sean Manaea, both of which were putting up nice numbers before going down with injuries, as names off the active 25-man roster.Chicago White Sox 1517We saw a specific example of this Thursday evening as Derek Holland regressed hard on his season performance, but the White Sox have the largest difference nearly a run between their team BFIP and ERA.What this means is Chicago severely over-performed in the first five weeks of the season on the pitching mound, and theres few ways it can be expected to last. (Watch Miguel Gonzlez this evening for a potential similar result).Tampa Bay Rays 1720This is a touch of a carbon copy of the statistic on the White Sox, but Tampa ranks second in their difference between BFIP and ERA.Neither Chicago or Tampa has had a truly awful start, but these figures may show it could get worse before getting better.Los Angeles Angels 1720Ricky Nolasco has allowed the most barrels in baseball this season (16). ()The Angels made moves to improve their defense this offseason, perhaps at the risk of losing offense, and it seems like the risk is hitting hard. The Angels have the lowest barrel rate in the American League at 3.01 percent.It has not helped that Mike Trout had to miss games due to an aching hamstring, but he also has not been hitting the baseball to barrel levels. Trouts 5.97 percent barrel rate is above average, but not at the levels where the MVP has been in the past (nine percent in 2016).Texas Rangers 1620Maybe I pick on this guy a little too much, but for all pitchers with at least nine innings on the 2017 season, Sam Dyson has the worst BFIP in all of baseball at 7.89.Philadelphia Phillies 1319The Phillies were content in not moving free agent Jeremy Hellickson at last years deadline, and even doubled down this past offseason handing him a qualified offer. Hellickson rightfully accepted the offer, and now both are paying for it Hellicksons 5.63 BFIP is the fifth highest in all of baseball.Pittsburgh Pirates 1421Losing their best overall hitter in the middle of the season was never going to help the Pirates attempt to get in the playoff picture. Starling Martes absence has affected the whole offense an offense that ranks dead last in MLB in barrel percentage at 2.77.Toronto Blue Jays 1421The Blue Jays lineup Friday evening has seven hitters below the league-average barrel rate of 4.25 percent. With their top hitters on the shelf, only Justin Smoak and part-time player Ryan Goins may make the opposing pitchers sweat tonight.Miami Marlins 1320The Marlins have three starting pitchers with an above 5.00 BFIP, although only one of them rank as qualified. And its simply a matter of the pitchers havent performed well enough to stay long in games, keeping them short of the inning qualifier limit.Either way, the starting pitching staff is bad as most predicted. The bold experiment has failed so far in Miami.Kansas City Royals 1321Lorenzo Cain, Alex Gordon, and Paulo Orlando the Opening Day starting outfielders have three barrels combined. Orlando is no longer on the big league squad, and Jorge Bonifacio has finally brought some power to the Kansas City outfield.This team has long sold out plate production for outfield defense, but this is taking it to extreme levels.Atlanta Braves 1120The Braves turned heads this offseason, signing veterans R.A. Dickey and Bartolo Coln to accompany some of their up-and-coming young arms. The move has not paid dividends whatsoever, as Atlanta ranks 14th in the NL in BFIP with a 4.70.San Diego Padres 1323Speaking of signing washed-up veterans, Jered Weaver ranks second to last in all of MLB in BFIP with a 6.18.San Francisco Giants 1224Who ranks last you may ask? Its Matt Moore with a 6.20 BFIP, who no one would have thought to consider washed-up such as these past few names Ive mentioned. Its been that sort of season for Moore and nearly every one of his teammates.The Giants, predicted by many including myself to make the postseason finish off this barrel stat article. Hope you enjoyed!*Authors note barrel numbers may differ from BaseballSavant.com due to rounding differences. However, all Statcast numbers were provided by BaseballSavant.com and MLB Advanced Media.·RELATED QUESTIONI am looking for a very good and smooth whiskey and I mean very smooth.?Crown Royal Reserve or Southern Comfort