On this episode of The SIS Baseball Podcast, Mark Simon is joined by SNY baseball insider Chelsea Janes (former national baseball writer for The Washington Post) to preview the season.

Also, in celebration of Women's History Month, he talks to Joely Leguizamon who will be one of the pioneers playing in the Women's Professional Baseball League this summer.

Mark and Chelsea swapped predictions, sharing surprise teams and players, tight division races, and defensive assessments, as well as the thing in baseball that will make them throw up their hands saying "I just don't know" and what the coolest thing of the 2026 baseball season will be.

Joely joined Mark to talk about our favorite topic, defense, including her earliest defense memories, how she learned to play, and why self-reliance is an important part of being an athlete..

Over the years we've talked to major leaguers, minor leaguers, college baseball and softball players, high school players, and Korean and Japanese league players and we're glad to add a WPBL player to our list.

Thanks as always for listening. Please check out the new-and-improved FieldingBible.com website, follow us on Bluesky at @sportsinfosolutions.com, and read our work at SportsInfoSolutions.com. You can e-mail us at Mark@sportsinfosolutions.com.

On this episode we deviate a little bit from our usual format. This is our 6th straight year doing an episode with Black History Month connections. We feel it's important to be socially conscious and inclusive, especially with everything happening in the world.

This year we did that by speaking with two people whose job is sharing the legacy of baseball legends.

Samantha Gibson, director of education at The Jackie Robinson Museum talked to Mark Simon about the museum's mission and the many elements to Jackie Robinson the person, not just the baseball player (plus, some book recommendations for people of all ages).

Then, Sean Gibson, executive director of The Josh Gibson Foundation explained how video games have helped tell the story of Sean's great-grandfather, Josh, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. He also shared what the Foundation is doing to further youth participation in sports in Pittsburgh.

The episode also featured our alumni corner spot, this one with Chris Goudoras, director of baseball analytics at Ole Miss University. He explained what he does in his job and gave tips for aspiring baseball job seekers.

Thanks as always for listening. Please check out the new-and-improved FieldingBible.com website, follow us on Bluesky at @sportsinfosolutions.com, and read our work at SportsInfoSolutions.com. You can e-mail us at Mark@sportsinfosolutions.com.

It's a guest-packed episode of The SIS Baseball Podcast as Mark Simon welcomed in Pirates coach and player development director Michael Chernow as well as three finalists for the SABR Analytics Conference Research Awards, Zach Crizer (The Bandwagon), Maddie Landis (Talk Sox), and Michael Rosen (FanGraphs).

Michael Chernow explained how his job compares to that of a farm director, and shared how the Pirates organization works to build good habits in players and good habits in its coaches, such that both can get promoted to the major league staff or (in the case of coaches) pursue other areas within their baseball interest.

Zach Crizer talked about his article for Opta Analyst, "Evolution in the Outfield: Is Center Fielder Morphing Into A Defensive Specialist Position" and cited the decline of center field OPS as players like Brenton Doyle, Kyle Isbel, and Tyrone Taylor become priorities for their teams. We also looked at his story from last season about right-handed batters and their lowered success vs left-handed pitching.

Maddie Landis shared her article on "Baseball's Gatekept Pitching Metric: Inside Vertical Approach Angle" and explained what can be learned from knowing the angle at which a pitch crosses home plate. She also discussed what she wrote about baseball player success by shoe type and which hitters are primed for breakout seasons in 2026 based on a stat she created.

Michael Rosen detailed what he learned from "How Much Do Trail Runners Matter? An Investigation" including which teams gained the most run expectancy from their successes. We also explored his articles on relief pitcher signings and also Wyatt Langford's defense.

Thanks as always for listening. Please check out the new-and-improved FieldingBible.com website, follow us on Bluesky at @sportsinfosolutions.com, and read our work at SportsInfoSolutions.com. You can e-mail us at Mark@sportsinfosolutions.com.