Here’s your chance to vote for the 2026 SABR Analytics Conference Research Awards winners.
The SABR Analytics Conference Research Awards will recognize baseball researchers who have completed the best work of original analysis or commentary during the preceding calendar year. Nominations were solicited by representatives from SABR, Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, and Sports Info Solutions.
To read any of the finalists, click on the link below. Scroll down to cast your vote.
Contemporary Analysis
Ryan Blake, “The Batter’s Eye at T-Mobile Park: A New Perspective,” Lookout Landing, May 8, 2025
Hannah Keyser, “How Fast Should Your 12-Year-Old Throw?” New York Times, August 21, 2025
Maddie Landis, “Baseball’s Gatekept Pitching Metric: Inside Vertical Approach Angle,” Talk Sox, September 7, 2025
Michael Rosen, “How Much Do Trail Runners Matter? An Investigation,” FanGraphs, September 8, 2025
Stephen Sutton-Brown, “Understanding Swing Processes Through Bat and Pitch Tracking,” Baseball Prospectus, September 22, 2025
Contemporary Commentary
Davy Andrews, “Unfuzzing the Strike Zone,” FanGraphs, January 3, 2025
Michael Baumann, “Jhoan Duran and the One True Split-Finger Fastball,” FanGraphs, September 17, 2025
Ben Lindbergh, ”If Pitches Are Fixed, Baseball Is Broken,” The Ringer, November 10, 2025
RJ McDaniel, “Wearing the Hat,” Baseball Prospectus, September 17, 2025
Richard Staff, “The Secret Brotherhood of the Phantom Ballplayers,” Defector, July 21, 2025
Historical Analysis/Commentary
Benjamin Alter, “Josh Gibson’s Place in History: A Statistical Analysis,” SABR Baseball Research Journal, Spring 2025
R.J. Anderson, “What MLB’s salary cap history can tell us about the upcoming CBA negotiations,” CBS Sports, December 1, 2025
Steven Goldman, “Every Day They Burn the Book,” Baseball Prospectus, April 3, 2025
Jay Jaffe, “Never is a Long, Long Time: Permanent Ineligibility and the Hall of Fame,” FanGraphs, March 10, 2025
David Roth, “Octavio Dotel Made a Life in Baseball,” Defector, April 10, 2025
John Dewan Defensive Analysis
Zach Crizer, “Evolution in the Outfield: Is Center Field Morphing Into a Defensive Specialist Position?” Opta Analyst, March 24, 2025
Daniel R. Epstein, “Stand in the Place Where You Are,” Baseball Prospectus, May 5, 2025
Dan M. Kahan, “Fielding Before and After Baseball’s Great Transformation,” Journal of Sports Analytics, Volume 11, 2025
Voting will be open through 11:59 p.m. MST on Friday, February 6, 2026.
Mobile or Safari users, click here to access the survey
Results will be announced and presented at the SABR Analytics Conference, February 27-March 1, 2026, in Phoenix, Arizona. Learn more or register for the conference at SABR.org/analytics.
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