This Week in Baseball 6/15 - 6/21

[alkeiper]

Interesting game tonight in Los Angeles. Jered Weaver vs. Jeff Weaver.

 

[DMann1979]

Well, Tavares just broke that 0-13 slump Lol.

 

[naiwf]

Mets trailing 3-1, bottom 9th 2 outs and Beltran on first. David Wright steps in as the tying run. What did he do?

(a) single to keep the inning going
(b) double in a run and put the Mets in position to tie with a single
(c) homer to deep left to tie it up
(d) strike out and look pathetic in doing so

 

[Smues]

Yeah what a fuck head non-clutch selfish asshat. The Mets should totally trade him for a bag of peanuts.

Wait, weren't you officialy done with the Mets last week? Why do you care?

 

[treble]

I understand being frustrated when a player makes an out, but where does this expectation that someone's supposed to get a hit in every situation come from?

 

[Smues]

What, you don't demand that your players hit 1.000?

 

[Vitamin X]

I know I do, but that's because I'm a Rockies fan and so they should be able to get at least close to that when they play at home.

 

[naiwf]

Yeah what a fuck head non-clutch selfish asshat. The Mets should totally trade him for a bag of peanuts.

Wait, weren't you officialy done with the Mets last week? Why do you care?

I happened to see the last out of the game when I got home and was flipping through the channels. I just heard Beltran's going in for an MRI on Monday night on WFAN. This season has been fantastic for radio purposes as every night there's another fan close to suicide over the latest injury.

I don't expect Wright to be Ryan Howard and blast the game tying homer, but I don't think it's asking too much for him not to strike out 69 times in 247 ABs. At the rate he's going he'll set a career high in Ks by early August and he just might crack double digits in homers by the end of the season.

 

[alkeiper]

I don't expect Wright to be Ryan Howard and blast the game tying homer, but I don't think it's asking too much for him not to strike out 69 times in 247 ABs.

As opposed to Ryan Howard, who has 86 strikeouts in 264 ABs.

 

[Smues]

Like he said, he doesn't expect Wright to be Ryan Howard. He's just not good enough to strikeout that much.

As mentioned before, while Wright's homerun stroke seems to have disappeared, his overall power hasn't. He's only slugging about 25 points lower than his career average. And he's made up for it with his OBP going up. Hell, his OPS+ is 150 right now, tying his career high. I just don't see how anybody can complain about the guy. Especially whens the Mets are just two games out of first right now. Then again I don't get how Yankees fans can complain about A-rod (at least before the steroid thing anyway) so I just don't understand what it is to be a New York fan apparently.

And this isn't a case of just finding one stat that makes the guy look good to defend him, Wright's line is .350/.439/.506. Unless you're Dusty Baker, how do you hate on a guy getting on base nearly 44% of the time?

 

[Vitamin X]

Yeah honestly, try being a guy who watches Mariners and Rockies games on a regular basis. I'd be elated to be a NY baseball fan.

 

[alkeiper]

The power IS way down. Wright's isolated power every season was over .200, this year it is .156. I wonder how much is due to the new ballpark. The problem isn't Wright though. It's that the Mets' rotation currently consists of Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, two members of Los Lobos and a contest winner.

 

[Smartly Pretty]

Be fair, Al, Livan Hernandez has been the Mets 2nd best pitcher this season. It's been Santana, Hernandez, Pelfrey and two contest winners.

I have no idea what isolated power is, but I'm pretty certain that the drop in power has a lot to do with Citi Field.

 

[Smues]

But where does that leave the Los Lobos members? In the bullpen?

 

[Dobbs3K]

Dave Bush admitted having arm fatigue after his terrible outing in Detroit yesterday. I smell a DL stint coming...which begs the question, since the Brewers were already down to four starters with Manny Parra having been busted down to AAA, what do they do now?

They desperately need to trade for a quality starting pitcher to back up Gallardo, but there isn't much out there right now.

 

[naiwf]

Like he said, he doesn't expect Wright to be Ryan Howard. He's just not good enough to strikeout that much.

As mentioned before, while Wright's homerun stroke seems to have disappeared, his overall power hasn't. He's only slugging about 25 points lower than his career average. And he's made up for it with his OBP going up. Hell, his OPS+ is 150 right now, tying his career high. I just don't see how anybody can complain about the guy. Especially whens the Mets are just two games out of first right now. Then again I don't get how Yankees fans can complain about A-rod (at least before the steroid thing anyway) so I just don't understand what it is to be a New York fan apparently.

And this isn't a case of just finding one stat that makes the guy look good to defend him, Wright's line is .350/.439/.506. Unless you're Dusty Baker, how do you hate on a guy getting on base nearly 44% of the time?

Wright, A-Rod and Beltran to a lesser extent just appear to go down swinging in the 9th inning a lot more often than most other guys who are amongst the elite in the league. Wright striking out almost 29% of the time just stands out a lot because he's not a guy like Dunn or Howard who is a feast or famine type guy and you live with the 150-200 strikeouts because you're going to get 40+ HR to negate some of the sting. I don't think any Mets fan was confident in Wright getting a hit in the 9th inning of that game yesterday in spite of his gaudy numbers.

 

[alkeiper]

Wright's ninth inning batting average is .350, and he has three strikeouts in 23 such plate appearances. Beltran's batting average is .533 (two strikeouts). I've really noticed a tendency for fans to judge their players because of lack of ninth inning miracle finishes and it's a dangerous trap to fall into.

Here's a story that went unnoticed seemingly. Ryan Howard went to the hospital Friday night for flu symptoms. He pinch hit Saturday, hit a game tying three run home run, and ended up back in the hospital that night.

 

[naiwf]

Wright's ninth inning batting average is .350, and he has three strikeouts in 23 such plate appearances. Beltran's batting average is .533 (two strikeouts). I've really noticed a tendency for fans to judge their players because of lack of ninth inning miracle finishes and it's a dangerous trap to fall into.

Here's a story that went unnoticed seemingly. Ryan Howard went to the hospital Friday night for flu symptoms. He pinch hit Saturday, hit a game tying three run home run, and ended up back in the hospital that night.

Go back to 2006 and look at every big game the Mets played down the stretch during those seasons and you'll have a different "feel" for their big hitters since they rarely, if ever, came up big. Beltran's final at bat in the '06 NLCS doesn't get negated because he got a hit in April of '09 in a similar circumstance with the team up 3 or 4 in the top of the 9th. Wright flailing at pitches and missing by FEET is something that stands out when a single probably doesn't.

I can guarantee you one thing though and that it's that you would not want Beltran, Delgado, Reyes or Wright in a position to win a game for you in September or October. As a Mets fan, most people assume that no lead against Philly is ever safe. As a Phillies fan, I'm sure you guys never stress out about a game against the Mets when one of those four is coming up to bat with the game on the line. Like you said Ryan Howard was HOSPITALIZED and still came up with a huge pinch hit homer. That never happens for the Mets.

Statistically speaking A-Rod may be the best hitter in baseball, or # 2 behind Pujols, but I know I wouldn't want him up with my season on the line. You shouldn't ever be able to say that about one of the greatest hitters of all time, but it is what it is.

 

[Czech]

Finally, CC Sabathia's arm is starting to shred nicely. Boom, Yosted.

People (not here, luckily) need to stop pretending this recent string of Cubs wins means anything. This weekend changes nothing; they're still not a contender. They came back against a laughingstock White Sox bullpen and struggled mightily to sweep the second-worst team in the majors. bfd. I hope nobody's sketching a parade route.

 

[alkeiper]

Naiwf, I could quote all the available splits and clutch statistics, but I doubt you really care. I've seen the Phillies play a ton of games. I've seen their hitters fail countless times in the late innings. I've seen their pitchers surrender late leads. I watched them drop three straight to the Marlins in 2003, and three straight to the Astros in Sept. of 2005 (by a total of four runs). So Carlos Beltran got fooled by a curveball in 2006. Boo fucking hoo. If you were a Phillies fan, you would be on this forum crying that Brad Lidge isn't a clutch pitcher, that Jimmy Rollins absolutely sucks, and how you just lost when Brian Roberts hit a two strike, two out home run.

And Czech, stop being such a tool. Your team is 34-31, 2.5 games out of first and the team they are chasing is not exactly the 1927 Yankees. They had everything possible go wrong with their offense and they are STILL over .500.

 

[Dobbs3K]

I find myself hoping for an extended DL stint for Sabathia? Does that make me a bad person?

 

[Precious Roy]

Yes

I heard a stat about David Wright, apparently he's hitting like .450 when making contact, which if it stands would be the highest average on contact in the history of major league baseball, just edging out a year by Babe Ruth.

But he's only got 4 homers (despite averaging like 30 a year on his career) and he strikes out too much so he gets trashed constantly on WFAN and the internet....

EDIT

.466 BABIP for Wright. Groundball and Flyball rates match his career numbers, walks are slightly up, strikeouts are up about 7%

 

[Smues]

I find myself hoping for an extended DL stint for Sabathia? Does that make me a bad person?

Probably, but you're not alone.

 

[alkeiper]

Yes

I heard a stat about David Wright, apparently he's hitting like .450 when making contact, which if it stands would be the highest average on contact in the history of major league baseball, just edging out a year by Babe Ruth.

But he's only got 4 homers (despite averaging like 30 a year on his career) and he strikes out too much so he gets trashed constantly on WFAN and the internet....

EDIT

.466 BABIP for Wright. Groundball and Flyball rates match his career numbers, walks are slightly up, strikeouts are up about 7%

.460 as of yesterday (your figure is probably correct). Ruth's highest was .423. BABIP removes strikeouts and home runs, so it's probably a sign that Wright's missed home runs are not turning into outs, just other hits.

 

[Czech]

I'm not sure why or how Al calling me a tool and posting a won-lost record allays any of my concerns about the team. I'm aware of the Cubs' record and the fact that I'm a tool.

My main point was that sweeping the awful Indians doesn't change the fact that there are a lot of problems with the way this team is made up. Take Carlos Marmol, for example. He's solved: initially approach him as if he's completely unhittable (which he generally is). You can either wait him out and let him strike out the side and take your chances against Kevin Gregg in the 9th, or wait him out and let him miss the zone high/low/in/out till he walks in runners or panics and starts lobbing meatballs. His BB/K ratio has been about 1:1. That says it all.

Speaking of the Indians, it was pretty funny-sad to watch Mark DeRosa receive standing ovations. I'm glad I'm not the only one who is still befuddled that we replaced one of our best and most popular players with Mendozy, the eighth dwarf.

 

[jimmy no nose]

Today the Rockies tried to do a squeeze play with runners on first and third, but there was a pitchout and it turned into a caught stealing-caught stealing double play. The catcher actually ran half way to third base to make the tag, but for some reason the runner at first didn't break with the pitch and got thrown out at second. I don't think I've ever seen a play like that before.

 

[Dobbs3K]

I find myself hoping for an extended DL stint for Sabathia? Does that make me a bad person?

Probably, but you're not alone.

Yeah...for me it's not even about wanting Sabathia to do badly...anything that hurts the Yankees is good in my view.

 

[JHawk]

I fucking love minor league baseball.

Went to see the Mahoning Valley Scrappers (Cleveland's short season A affiliate) play the Jamestown Jammers (Marlins affiliate) yesterday and remembered why I love this game. Great pitching the entire game, fundamental defense (with the exception of Scrappers shortstop Rafael Vera, who I hope just had an off night), and fundamentals the big club is missing. Two successful hit and runs, bunt attempts, and a great finish, ending 1-0 on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth. Awesome game.

 

[naiwf]

Naiwf, I could quote all the available splits and clutch statistics, but I doubt you really care. I've seen the Phillies play a ton of games. I've seen their hitters fail countless times in the late innings. I've seen their pitchers surrender late leads. I watched them drop three straight to the Marlins in 2003, and three straight to the Astros in Sept. of 2005 (by a total of four runs). So Carlos Beltran got fooled by a curveball in 2006. Boo fucking hoo. If you were a Phillies fan, you would be on this forum crying that Brad Lidge isn't a clutch pitcher, that Jimmy Rollins absolutely sucks, and how you just lost when Brian Roberts hit a two strike, two out home run.

And Czech, stop being such a tool. Your team is 34-31, 2.5 games out of first and the team they are chasing is not exactly the 1927 Yankees. They had everything possible go wrong with their offense and they are STILL over .500.

No, I wouldn't because my team would have just won the World Series last year and clowned their "rivals" the last two years in a row in September. I'm not a Yankees fan. I don't expect my team to win a championship every year. I just expect at least one every 15-20 years. The Giants collapsed like dogs last year, but I never called for anyone to lose their jobs or cried about it because we had just stolen a Super Bowl the year before.