In his article for the Dallas Morning News on Tuesday, Kevin Sherrington expressed his opinion that the Rangers should keep their prized prospects away from the trade market. As for me, I’d be thrilled if the Rangers make the playoffs, and I wouldn’t mind if they made some acquisitions, just so long as Derek Holland and Neftali Feliz are left alone.
It’s been said that the Rangers need to find a bat to help keep this offense alive. But to me, the offense, despite its recent tribulations, will be fine, because Josh Hamilton should be back in a few weeks. Right now, I think that offense is really missing Josh. No, what the Rangers need is some bullpen help, someone they can depend on consistently. One name that lights up the radar is Joel Zumaya, the coveted Tigers reliever. If the Rangers could bring in Zumaya and get rid of a guy like Guardado, then I would feel much better about this team, because to be frank, I no longer trust ‘Everyday Eddie.’
As for the rotation, it could use an addition, though right now I think it would only help if a major star were brought in, which seems unlikely.
Again, the Rangers should make a trade only if they don’t have to give up Feliz, Holland, and maybe Blake Beavan. As for players I wouldn’t mind seeing go: Kasey Kiker, Michael Main, and Chris Davis.
Note, next week, due to a conflicting schedule, I won't be putting any posts up for HWC.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Monday Movie: Bugs Bunny Baseball
Here's a classic Bugs Bunny episode. Seen it a million times, still love it.
So...I wonder why any balks weren't called?
So...I wonder why any balks weren't called?
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Monday: 'Roid Rage
It’s a subject that that isn’t fun to talk about, but talked about nonetheless. Steroids. They can’t be ignored any more than paying the monthly electric bills can. I tend to linger away from the idea for a steady period of time up until the next name comes out. This time it’s Sammy Sosa. Now I think everyone knew that Sosa most likely used steroids before the news flash arrived a few weeks ago, but now that his name and steroids are officially making the headlines, people have to stop and think about it.
Though the topic of steroids and who used them is surfacing newspapers and websites frequently, it’s not because players are using them now. It’s because players did use back in the 1990s, and now the truth about their mistakes is finally being released. True, some players still are caught using drugs today, but they are generally young, naïve players who believe that they can only succeed by enhancing their bodies. Those players are often caught and rightfully suspended. The sad thing is that back in 1990s (and I suppose early 2000s for some) star players who already had the talent took steroids and were never caught until now. It’s become a mess, as more and more players are becoming subjects of this controversy, and most of them are players who were having Hall of Fame careers before the drugs entered their lives.
So that leads us to the major question surrounding the steroid scandal: should star players who used drugs be allowed in the Hall of Fame? It’s a tough question, and even tougher to answer. If Barry Bonds is not allowed in the Hall of Fame, then does that mean he’s not allowed to have the homerun record? In 100 years, if someone sees that he has the record, but is not in the Hall of Fame, they will know that he made a mistake somewhere along the line that prevented him from entering the Hall. If that’s the case, then Bonds will never be looked upon as a baseball hero. My answer to the question is this: For steroid users, all records should be dismissed, and no one should enter the Hall of Fame. That means that Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, and guys like Rafael Palmeiro would not be going into the Hall. Right now, it may sound a bit inequitable, but in 100 years, it will be looked upon as simply a small glitch in baseball history, a span of a few years when there were major hitting stars who were lost in the spotlight because of what they did with steroids. People will continue to write books about it, and talk about the records that were taken away, and they probably will simply find it intriguing rather than unfair. Because the truth is, there will be so many more great players to come, that a small portion of them left out won’t really matter. After all, punishment must be given for those who make mistakes.
There is still hope for these players. They can still go down with dignity, even if they don’t make it into Hall of Fame. What they can do is admit their mistakes. Alex Rodriguez did it (though we’re not sure how much he left out) and Jason Giambi and Andy Pettitte did as well. If one admits their mistakes, they can go out with dignity. If they live in denial, then they go out with a black shadow cast upon them. A few years ago, Mark McGwire said at a hearing involving steroids, ‘I’m not here to talk about the past.’ If he had only admitted his mistakes then maybe he’d be getting more votes on the ballet.
I still think players who used steroids will make it into the Hall of Fame. My opinion is pretty much irrelevant. I just think that since it’s such a small group of players compared to the amounts that will be eligible in years to come and that in the future, people won’t care if Sammy Sosa or Barry Bonds aren’t in the Hall of Fame. However, I don't worry about this, because even though these players likely will still be eligible for the Hall of Fame, it will still be up for the the voters to decide. If the voters don't select these players, then the players can't say they were cheated.
Some say that the mess is happening right now, as more and more names are coming out. It's hard to tell if the mess is now, or yet to come when these players who took steroids become eligible for the Hall of Fame. Then what's going to happen? There's a great line in 'No Country For Old Men' that fits this situation perfectly: "it's a mess, ain't it, sheriff?" "Well, if it ain't, it'll do till the mess gets here."
Though the topic of steroids and who used them is surfacing newspapers and websites frequently, it’s not because players are using them now. It’s because players did use back in the 1990s, and now the truth about their mistakes is finally being released. True, some players still are caught using drugs today, but they are generally young, naïve players who believe that they can only succeed by enhancing their bodies. Those players are often caught and rightfully suspended. The sad thing is that back in 1990s (and I suppose early 2000s for some) star players who already had the talent took steroids and were never caught until now. It’s become a mess, as more and more players are becoming subjects of this controversy, and most of them are players who were having Hall of Fame careers before the drugs entered their lives.
So that leads us to the major question surrounding the steroid scandal: should star players who used drugs be allowed in the Hall of Fame? It’s a tough question, and even tougher to answer. If Barry Bonds is not allowed in the Hall of Fame, then does that mean he’s not allowed to have the homerun record? In 100 years, if someone sees that he has the record, but is not in the Hall of Fame, they will know that he made a mistake somewhere along the line that prevented him from entering the Hall. If that’s the case, then Bonds will never be looked upon as a baseball hero. My answer to the question is this: For steroid users, all records should be dismissed, and no one should enter the Hall of Fame. That means that Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, and guys like Rafael Palmeiro would not be going into the Hall. Right now, it may sound a bit inequitable, but in 100 years, it will be looked upon as simply a small glitch in baseball history, a span of a few years when there were major hitting stars who were lost in the spotlight because of what they did with steroids. People will continue to write books about it, and talk about the records that were taken away, and they probably will simply find it intriguing rather than unfair. Because the truth is, there will be so many more great players to come, that a small portion of them left out won’t really matter. After all, punishment must be given for those who make mistakes.
There is still hope for these players. They can still go down with dignity, even if they don’t make it into Hall of Fame. What they can do is admit their mistakes. Alex Rodriguez did it (though we’re not sure how much he left out) and Jason Giambi and Andy Pettitte did as well. If one admits their mistakes, they can go out with dignity. If they live in denial, then they go out with a black shadow cast upon them. A few years ago, Mark McGwire said at a hearing involving steroids, ‘I’m not here to talk about the past.’ If he had only admitted his mistakes then maybe he’d be getting more votes on the ballet.
I still think players who used steroids will make it into the Hall of Fame. My opinion is pretty much irrelevant. I just think that since it’s such a small group of players compared to the amounts that will be eligible in years to come and that in the future, people won’t care if Sammy Sosa or Barry Bonds aren’t in the Hall of Fame. However, I don't worry about this, because even though these players likely will still be eligible for the Hall of Fame, it will still be up for the the voters to decide. If the voters don't select these players, then the players can't say they were cheated.
Some say that the mess is happening right now, as more and more names are coming out. It's hard to tell if the mess is now, or yet to come when these players who took steroids become eligible for the Hall of Fame. Then what's going to happen? There's a great line in 'No Country For Old Men' that fits this situation perfectly: "it's a mess, ain't it, sheriff?" "Well, if it ain't, it'll do till the mess gets here."
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Wednesday: Ice Cold
Last year, the Rangers based their chances of winning on how good the offense was. This year, at least for now, it’s been the pitching, because right now this offense is not one to be relied on. People haven’t really noticed the slumping offense because the pitchers have been such stalwarts all season long. The Rangers began this home stand 2-4, thanks especially to the scuffling offense of this team. That’s when it really started to occur to people that this offense was mired in a deep slump.
With the exception of David Murphy, none of the hitters are producing like they’re capable of. Of course, Ian Kinsler comes to mind first. It’s hard to believe that not too long ago he was hitting over 350. Now, thanks to a month long downturn, the Ranger’s second baseman is hitting 268. Nearly every other Ranger hitter has seen their batting average plummet in recent weeks. Nelson Cruz, after his stunning offensive outburst back in late May, has fallen down to 276. It wasn’t long ago that Elvis Andrus was leading all rookies with a 280 AVG. Now he’s hitting 256. And what happened to Andruw Jones? He hung around 300 for so long, and now he’s suddenly hitting 248. 248! How did that happen? Jarrod Saltalamcchia is batting a meager 247, and of course Chris Davis is still hovering just above 200. The only starter who is hitting in the 300s is Michael Young, though he too has been the victim of recent offensive ineptness.
Last night was pleasing, as the Rangers hit three homeruns and chased Wandy Rodriguez early, but they didn’t do much scoring after the fourth inning. For once I can honestly say that I eagerly await the next fifteen run outburst from this offense. The last time the Rangers scored ten or more runs in a game was on May 30th. So it’s been over two weeks since we've witnessed a slugfest from the Rangers. And though it’s slightly irrelevant, the Rangers have only had two 10+ run games since April 15th.
As nice as it’s been to see the Rangers in first place, it’s clear that this team has not had both the pitching and hitting clicking at the same time. The only question is this: when the hitting starts, will the pitching stop? If the Rangers really want to win this division (and I say this partly because the Angels look like a driving force on a mission) then they’ll have to put everything together, especially in July and August, when in the past the Rangers have notoriously started to fade.
Every single hitter on this roster will honestly say that this offense is not producing to the best of its abilities. These hitters can punish a team like no one else can, and as the weather in Texas gets hotter, let’s hope that the offense can do the same.
texasrangers.com
With the exception of David Murphy, none of the hitters are producing like they’re capable of. Of course, Ian Kinsler comes to mind first. It’s hard to believe that not too long ago he was hitting over 350. Now, thanks to a month long downturn, the Ranger’s second baseman is hitting 268. Nearly every other Ranger hitter has seen their batting average plummet in recent weeks. Nelson Cruz, after his stunning offensive outburst back in late May, has fallen down to 276. It wasn’t long ago that Elvis Andrus was leading all rookies with a 280 AVG. Now he’s hitting 256. And what happened to Andruw Jones? He hung around 300 for so long, and now he’s suddenly hitting 248. 248! How did that happen? Jarrod Saltalamcchia is batting a meager 247, and of course Chris Davis is still hovering just above 200. The only starter who is hitting in the 300s is Michael Young, though he too has been the victim of recent offensive ineptness.
Last night was pleasing, as the Rangers hit three homeruns and chased Wandy Rodriguez early, but they didn’t do much scoring after the fourth inning. For once I can honestly say that I eagerly await the next fifteen run outburst from this offense. The last time the Rangers scored ten or more runs in a game was on May 30th. So it’s been over two weeks since we've witnessed a slugfest from the Rangers. And though it’s slightly irrelevant, the Rangers have only had two 10+ run games since April 15th.
As nice as it’s been to see the Rangers in first place, it’s clear that this team has not had both the pitching and hitting clicking at the same time. The only question is this: when the hitting starts, will the pitching stop? If the Rangers really want to win this division (and I say this partly because the Angels look like a driving force on a mission) then they’ll have to put everything together, especially in July and August, when in the past the Rangers have notoriously started to fade.
Every single hitter on this roster will honestly say that this offense is not producing to the best of its abilities. These hitters can punish a team like no one else can, and as the weather in Texas gets hotter, let’s hope that the offense can do the same.
texasrangers.com
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
One mans All-Star Ballot: Part II
Well, it's taken me long enough, but here it finally is... part two of my look at all-star voting by the numbers. At this point this might be a bit ill-timed in comparison to part one - undoubtedly changed on the AL ballot since last time - but considering it took me three nights of writing and rewriting this, I think it's still time to soldier ahead just so I can get on with other things (like looking for some bright spots in our suddenly painfully inept offense).
It's been awhile since the National League has actually won an All-Star game, so this year it might be more important than ever to make certain they have the best players from their league representing them... unless of course you secretly enjoy seeing them fall flat on their faces year after year.
I'll admit, I kind of like to think of the NL's 12 year ASG drought as retribution for making us AL fans put up with this silly business of watching the pitchers hit during interleague (and even spring training) every year.
Just kidding.
Okay, maybe only sort of kidding.
Anyway, now that I've offended several million purists and NL fans, we might as well get on with this:
First Base
Leaderboards
The NL has some excellent first basemen - I think an argument could be made that deepest single position as far as raw talent goes on the all star ballot is NL first base, and has been for some time. This year however, two guys stand out above the rest, and that's the insanely talented Albert Pujols and one-time Ranger Adrian Gonzalez.
Pujols is of course on of the best, if not the best pure hitter in baseball so it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that he leads NL first basemen in wOBA, OPS and just about everything else. In fact, been the most valuable offensive player in all of baseball this year if you go by Wins Above Replacement. His overall WAR has been hurt somewhat by his defense - he's kind of having an off-year at first base weighing in at almost 3 runs below replacement in UZR (first time he's been in the negative since 2005). So his overall WAR is 3.2 - only tied for fourth best in baseball with Ryan Zimmerman. I say only because his bat has been worth an even 30 runs above replacement this year, almost 6 runs better than second-best Raul Ibanez. Just imagine what his overall WAR would be if he had his usual stellar defensive numbers to back all that offensive value up.
Gonzalez (or as I like to refer to him, the real reason why the Adam Eaton for Chris Young deal stung) hasn't quite been the offensive beast Pujols has... but he's been close. The casual all-star voter might dismiss that notion looking at his batting average (.276, versus Pujols' .324) but beyond that veneer he's having a truly special season himself. Thanks to the fact that he's tied with Adam Dunn for the best walk rate in the NL (at 18.7 BB's per 9) he sports a .414 OBP, 8th in the NL. More importantly, he's third in the NL in slugging percentage and ISO (isolated power), which as you might have guessed means he's up there in homers - tied with Pujols and Ibanez for the NL lead with 22. Not too bad, as evidenced by the 24.2 runs above replacement Fangraphs has his bat valued at. Where's that rank compared to Pujols? Third in baseball, as a matter of fact, and a half win behind second place Ibanez.
That brings us to Gonzalez's advantage, and that's his defense. He's been worth 2 runs even at first base, tied for second among NL first sackers with Atlanta's Kasey Kotchman. Even though his D is a bit less impressive if you project it over 150 games (UZR/150) he's still been a lot better than Pujols this year, and as a result he's only 0.2 points behind big Albert in overall WAR at 3.0.
Pretty tough final decision here, for me at least. WAR-wise, it's pretty much a wash, although Pujols does have a slight edge. Albert's flat out been the most valuable offensive player in baseball this year, but A-Gon isn't far behind in offensive value himself, and his defense makes him the more rounded player. I really like Gonzalez a lot, but considering Pujols has long been considered a great glove at first (and has the numbers in the recent past to back it up) it's hard to penalize him too much for his D this year. And the easter egg is it would admittedly be kinda cool to see him starting the ASG in his home park considering the year he's having. It's close, but Pujols has my vote (for now at least).
Second Base
Leaderboards
From one of the closest individual position races on that ballot, we now go to one of the biggest no-brainers. There's really only one name you need to know among NL second basemen, and that's Chase Cameron Utley.
If that name doesn't strike fear, it should. His .441 wOBA (which happens to be fourth in all of baseball) is 67 points higher than the next-best Orlando Hudson and he's one of just 5 players in the NL (and 9 in baseball) who still have an OPS over 1.000 (none of whom happen to be second basemen). He seems to have backslid a bit from his stellar defensive seasons in 2007 and 2008 (just over a half run above replacement at second so far this year) but his 3.4 WAR is still nearly a win and a half better than second-place Brandon Phillips (2.0).
Shortstop
Leaderboards
The two NL middle infield spots really aren't to competitive this year, numbers-wise. At second base it's because Chase Utley can just mash, but at shortstop it's because Hanley Ramirez has finally learned to play defense. And because HanRam can mash too.
As usual, the cornerstone of the Florida Marlins franchise leads NL shortstops in wOBA, OPS and almost all the other offensive metrics. By now, pretty much anyone who follows the baseball should knows what Hanley is capable of with the bat. What's new however is he may be starting to overcome his reputation as an abhorrent defender - so far this year he's on the plus side in UZR and UZR/150 for the first time in his career. And this year that's what distances him from Miguel Tejada, who ranks second to Ramirez in wOBA and is tied for second in the NL in BA.
Tejada has been almost as bad, if not worse than Hanley has been in the past, ranking 7 runs below replacement this year and almost 16 runs below in UZR/150. In fact, both Tejada and the third-place man in wOBA among NL SS's, Yunel Escobar (4 runs below replacement in UZR) have been so bad defensively, the ever mediocre Ryan Theriot (just a .337 wOBA) actually beats them both out for the distant second place to Hanley in WAR at 1.6. Tejada has a 1.5, Escobar a 1.1. Oh, and Hanley? 2.8.
Third base
Leaderboards
This is was one of the more interesting positions I looked as far as options and offense vs. defense goes. On one hand you've got New York's David Wright, who happens to lead the majors in batting average and the NL in OBP, which helps him to a .431 wOBA, tops among NL 3B's.
As for the rest of the field, second among NL 3B's in wOBA is Mark Reynolds (whose name you've probably heard tossed around in discussions about Chris Davis as the guy who struck out 204 times last year) at .412, who has been bouncing back and forth between third base and first base since mid-May. Outside the 400+ wOBA stratosphere, we have Chipper Jones, still kicking it at 37 (and putting up a 918 OPS and a .389 wOBA), and Ryan Zimmerman (.388 wOBA). Though Wright is the clear leader of the pack offensively, there's a lot of pretty good third base options this year in the NL.
Defensively is where it gets interesting, because Jones, Wright and Reynolds have all been terrible defensively this year (well, Chipper and Wright have been, Reynolds has just been below average) whereas Ryan Zimmerman has been absolutely brilliant. Chipper has been the most suspect, ranking 3.6 runs below replacement in UZR (and almost a whopping 13 in UZR/150) and Wright isn't too far behind at minus 3 even. Reynolds is only about a half-run below replacement, although if you go per 150 games he looks a tad worse - but still nowhere near as bad as Wright and Chipper.
Zimmerman on the other hand not only leads NL third basemen in UZR, but has been the second-best defender in the NL (well, in terms of UZR, anyway), behind only Pirates OF Nyjer Morgan with an UZR of 8.0 and an UZR/150 of 19.9. The result is that Zim's actually leads the NL third base pack with a 3.2 WAR, David Wright trailing at 2.9 and Mark Reynolds third at 2.3. Jones defense has him at upper-mid pack with 1.5 WAR.
This leaves me with pretty much the same dilemma as with Pujols vs. Gonzalez at first base: the amazing offensive player, or the more well rounded (and in this case stellar) defender who's still more than holding his own offensively? It's another tossup, but this time I think I'll go with the complete package in Zimmerman.
Catcher
Leaderboard
As the guy who's pretty much NL's best offensive catcher Brian McCann has made the all-star squad as a backup three years in a row. He still has yet to start however, and if Yadier Molina's lead in the actual voting so far is any indication, he may still not get there this year. Which is really too bad, because he's pretty much been head and shoulders more valuable than any other NL catcher so far.
Despite spending time on the DL this year with an eye issue, McCann has been a terror at the plate this this year, posting a .953 OPS and a .412 wOBA. His 2.1 WAR is almost a full run better than any other NL catcher, and the only other starting catcher to even approach his offensive production is Carlos Ruiz with a .380 wOBA (well, Washington's Jesus Flores does too, but he might be out for the rest of the year).
As was discussed last time, there's no real defensive statistics for catchers, so I really couldn't tell you if McCann is costing his team any runs with his glove or not, but if the offensive stats are any indication it'll be a shame if he's beat out by Molina (whose .319 wOBA is uninspiring, to say the least). In fact, on an unrelated note, why in the world do people think that Yadier Molina is good?
Outfielders
Leaderboards
There's plenty of good choices to fill out your three outfield votes in the NL this year, lead by a somewhat surprising contender: Raul Ibanez. Most people felt that the Phillies where taking a definite downgrade when they replaced free agent Pat Burrell by signing an aging Ibanez over the winter, but so far the Phils have enjoyed surprisingly ridiculous production out of Ibanez's bat, and even more surprisingly, good defense from a guy who's been a noted butcher in the past. Not only does Ibanez's .444 wOBA lead NL outfielders, it's second to only Albert Pujols in the entire NL. And he's actually plus 2.3 runs in left field so far, after being minus 15 and 20 runs there the last two years in Seattle. Who'd a thunk it, but he actually leads the NL in WAR so far at 3.3.
Among the other options, Carlos Beltran (.430 wOBA) Ryan Braun (.427 wOBA) Brad Hawpe (.424) and Justin Upton (.414) are the rest of the top 5 among NL OF's in wOBA. Hawpe's awful defense (-6.6 runs in UZR) however separates him from the rest of the pack in WAR however, dropping him out of the top 10 while Matt Kemp's awesome UZR of 8 vaults him into a narrow second in overall value at 2.9. Braun is just one point behind at 2.8, while Upton and Beltran sit tied at 2.6. You can pretty much throw a couple darts at those four and come out with an appropriate choice, but I'll go with Beltran and Kemp to get the respective best of the rest in offense and defense.
It's been awhile since the National League has actually won an All-Star game, so this year it might be more important than ever to make certain they have the best players from their league representing them... unless of course you secretly enjoy seeing them fall flat on their faces year after year.
I'll admit, I kind of like to think of the NL's 12 year ASG drought as retribution for making us AL fans put up with this silly business of watching the pitchers hit during interleague (and even spring training) every year.
Just kidding.
Okay, maybe only sort of kidding.
Anyway, now that I've offended several million purists and NL fans, we might as well get on with this:
First Base
Leaderboards
The NL has some excellent first basemen - I think an argument could be made that deepest single position as far as raw talent goes on the all star ballot is NL first base, and has been for some time. This year however, two guys stand out above the rest, and that's the insanely talented Albert Pujols and one-time Ranger Adrian Gonzalez.
Pujols is of course on of the best, if not the best pure hitter in baseball so it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that he leads NL first basemen in wOBA, OPS and just about everything else. In fact, been the most valuable offensive player in all of baseball this year if you go by Wins Above Replacement. His overall WAR has been hurt somewhat by his defense - he's kind of having an off-year at first base weighing in at almost 3 runs below replacement in UZR (first time he's been in the negative since 2005). So his overall WAR is 3.2 - only tied for fourth best in baseball with Ryan Zimmerman. I say only because his bat has been worth an even 30 runs above replacement this year, almost 6 runs better than second-best Raul Ibanez. Just imagine what his overall WAR would be if he had his usual stellar defensive numbers to back all that offensive value up.
Gonzalez (or as I like to refer to him, the real reason why the Adam Eaton for Chris Young deal stung) hasn't quite been the offensive beast Pujols has... but he's been close. The casual all-star voter might dismiss that notion looking at his batting average (.276, versus Pujols' .324) but beyond that veneer he's having a truly special season himself. Thanks to the fact that he's tied with Adam Dunn for the best walk rate in the NL (at 18.7 BB's per 9) he sports a .414 OBP, 8th in the NL. More importantly, he's third in the NL in slugging percentage and ISO (isolated power), which as you might have guessed means he's up there in homers - tied with Pujols and Ibanez for the NL lead with 22. Not too bad, as evidenced by the 24.2 runs above replacement Fangraphs has his bat valued at. Where's that rank compared to Pujols? Third in baseball, as a matter of fact, and a half win behind second place Ibanez.
That brings us to Gonzalez's advantage, and that's his defense. He's been worth 2 runs even at first base, tied for second among NL first sackers with Atlanta's Kasey Kotchman. Even though his D is a bit less impressive if you project it over 150 games (UZR/150) he's still been a lot better than Pujols this year, and as a result he's only 0.2 points behind big Albert in overall WAR at 3.0.
Pretty tough final decision here, for me at least. WAR-wise, it's pretty much a wash, although Pujols does have a slight edge. Albert's flat out been the most valuable offensive player in baseball this year, but A-Gon isn't far behind in offensive value himself, and his defense makes him the more rounded player. I really like Gonzalez a lot, but considering Pujols has long been considered a great glove at first (and has the numbers in the recent past to back it up) it's hard to penalize him too much for his D this year. And the easter egg is it would admittedly be kinda cool to see him starting the ASG in his home park considering the year he's having. It's close, but Pujols has my vote (for now at least).
Second Base
Leaderboards
From one of the closest individual position races on that ballot, we now go to one of the biggest no-brainers. There's really only one name you need to know among NL second basemen, and that's Chase Cameron Utley.
If that name doesn't strike fear, it should. His .441 wOBA (which happens to be fourth in all of baseball) is 67 points higher than the next-best Orlando Hudson and he's one of just 5 players in the NL (and 9 in baseball) who still have an OPS over 1.000 (none of whom happen to be second basemen). He seems to have backslid a bit from his stellar defensive seasons in 2007 and 2008 (just over a half run above replacement at second so far this year) but his 3.4 WAR is still nearly a win and a half better than second-place Brandon Phillips (2.0).
Shortstop
Leaderboards
The two NL middle infield spots really aren't to competitive this year, numbers-wise. At second base it's because Chase Utley can just mash, but at shortstop it's because Hanley Ramirez has finally learned to play defense. And because HanRam can mash too.
As usual, the cornerstone of the Florida Marlins franchise leads NL shortstops in wOBA, OPS and almost all the other offensive metrics. By now, pretty much anyone who follows the baseball should knows what Hanley is capable of with the bat. What's new however is he may be starting to overcome his reputation as an abhorrent defender - so far this year he's on the plus side in UZR and UZR/150 for the first time in his career. And this year that's what distances him from Miguel Tejada, who ranks second to Ramirez in wOBA and is tied for second in the NL in BA.
Tejada has been almost as bad, if not worse than Hanley has been in the past, ranking 7 runs below replacement this year and almost 16 runs below in UZR/150. In fact, both Tejada and the third-place man in wOBA among NL SS's, Yunel Escobar (4 runs below replacement in UZR) have been so bad defensively, the ever mediocre Ryan Theriot (just a .337 wOBA) actually beats them both out for the distant second place to Hanley in WAR at 1.6. Tejada has a 1.5, Escobar a 1.1. Oh, and Hanley? 2.8.
Third base
Leaderboards
This is was one of the more interesting positions I looked as far as options and offense vs. defense goes. On one hand you've got New York's David Wright, who happens to lead the majors in batting average and the NL in OBP, which helps him to a .431 wOBA, tops among NL 3B's.
As for the rest of the field, second among NL 3B's in wOBA is Mark Reynolds (whose name you've probably heard tossed around in discussions about Chris Davis as the guy who struck out 204 times last year) at .412, who has been bouncing back and forth between third base and first base since mid-May. Outside the 400+ wOBA stratosphere, we have Chipper Jones, still kicking it at 37 (and putting up a 918 OPS and a .389 wOBA), and Ryan Zimmerman (.388 wOBA). Though Wright is the clear leader of the pack offensively, there's a lot of pretty good third base options this year in the NL.
Defensively is where it gets interesting, because Jones, Wright and Reynolds have all been terrible defensively this year (well, Chipper and Wright have been, Reynolds has just been below average) whereas Ryan Zimmerman has been absolutely brilliant. Chipper has been the most suspect, ranking 3.6 runs below replacement in UZR (and almost a whopping 13 in UZR/150) and Wright isn't too far behind at minus 3 even. Reynolds is only about a half-run below replacement, although if you go per 150 games he looks a tad worse - but still nowhere near as bad as Wright and Chipper.
Zimmerman on the other hand not only leads NL third basemen in UZR, but has been the second-best defender in the NL (well, in terms of UZR, anyway), behind only Pirates OF Nyjer Morgan with an UZR of 8.0 and an UZR/150 of 19.9. The result is that Zim's actually leads the NL third base pack with a 3.2 WAR, David Wright trailing at 2.9 and Mark Reynolds third at 2.3. Jones defense has him at upper-mid pack with 1.5 WAR.
This leaves me with pretty much the same dilemma as with Pujols vs. Gonzalez at first base: the amazing offensive player, or the more well rounded (and in this case stellar) defender who's still more than holding his own offensively? It's another tossup, but this time I think I'll go with the complete package in Zimmerman.
Catcher
Leaderboard
As the guy who's pretty much NL's best offensive catcher Brian McCann has made the all-star squad as a backup three years in a row. He still has yet to start however, and if Yadier Molina's lead in the actual voting so far is any indication, he may still not get there this year. Which is really too bad, because he's pretty much been head and shoulders more valuable than any other NL catcher so far.
Despite spending time on the DL this year with an eye issue, McCann has been a terror at the plate this this year, posting a .953 OPS and a .412 wOBA. His 2.1 WAR is almost a full run better than any other NL catcher, and the only other starting catcher to even approach his offensive production is Carlos Ruiz with a .380 wOBA (well, Washington's Jesus Flores does too, but he might be out for the rest of the year).
As was discussed last time, there's no real defensive statistics for catchers, so I really couldn't tell you if McCann is costing his team any runs with his glove or not, but if the offensive stats are any indication it'll be a shame if he's beat out by Molina (whose .319 wOBA is uninspiring, to say the least). In fact, on an unrelated note, why in the world do people think that Yadier Molina is good?
Outfielders
Leaderboards
There's plenty of good choices to fill out your three outfield votes in the NL this year, lead by a somewhat surprising contender: Raul Ibanez. Most people felt that the Phillies where taking a definite downgrade when they replaced free agent Pat Burrell by signing an aging Ibanez over the winter, but so far the Phils have enjoyed surprisingly ridiculous production out of Ibanez's bat, and even more surprisingly, good defense from a guy who's been a noted butcher in the past. Not only does Ibanez's .444 wOBA lead NL outfielders, it's second to only Albert Pujols in the entire NL. And he's actually plus 2.3 runs in left field so far, after being minus 15 and 20 runs there the last two years in Seattle. Who'd a thunk it, but he actually leads the NL in WAR so far at 3.3.
Among the other options, Carlos Beltran (.430 wOBA) Ryan Braun (.427 wOBA) Brad Hawpe (.424) and Justin Upton (.414) are the rest of the top 5 among NL OF's in wOBA. Hawpe's awful defense (-6.6 runs in UZR) however separates him from the rest of the pack in WAR however, dropping him out of the top 10 while Matt Kemp's awesome UZR of 8 vaults him into a narrow second in overall value at 2.9. Braun is just one point behind at 2.8, while Upton and Beltran sit tied at 2.6. You can pretty much throw a couple darts at those four and come out with an appropriate choice, but I'll go with Beltran and Kemp to get the respective best of the rest in offense and defense.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Monday: A Different Kind of Week
Saturday ended what was a bizarre week in baseball-for the Rangers in particular. There were four strange occurrences that come to mind, and they started on Wednesday, when the Rangers were set to play against the Blue Jays. Now of course, the game was canceled due to rain, and for most that doesn’t seem too strange, but for me, it was because I happened to be in attendance. That was the first game I had ever been to that had been rained out. When we got to the game, the skies looming overhead looked ominous and threatening. It was nice because the sun was gone and the overcast sky kept us from having to deal with the sun, but it was also slightly unnerving, because rain seemed evident. It wasn’t until we were in the confines of the stadium that the wind picked up and clouds grew ever darker. We knew that the game wasn’t going to be on time. Then rain started sputtering from the sky, as the large open windows of the park allowed water to spray in, forcing everyone to move back against the wall. Looking out at the storm I was reminded of something from ‘Shutter Island.’ The upper deck was closed, so all the fans (I’m guessing it was around 25,000) crammed together in the lower concourse. By the time I caught a glimpse of the field, it was pouring, and I knew that the game would probably be delayed. Standing under cover and looking out at the field as the rain came down in rapid sheets was a sight to behold, even though we ended up not getting to see the game played.
The next two instances that piqued my interest took place on Friday. The first, as most know, concerned Milton Bradley. He actually had a pretty good game offensively, but that was overshadowed by his blunders on the base paths and the in the outfield, with the latter being the only people really cared about. In case you didn’t hear, Bradley caught a fly ball for the second out, thought it was the third out, posed, and then fired the ball into the stands. There are plenty of embarrassing things a player can do in a game, but is there one worse than that? Bradley just stood in the outfield as if nothing had really happened, but it was obvious he was humiliated. However, as Tom Grieve said, Milton came up with a very solid comeback after the game. The next instance came the same day, when the Indians were playing the Royals. Shin-Soo Choo hit a line drive single to center and it looked as if Coco Crisp would field it as normal. But it just so happened that a flock of seagulls had decided to camp out in center field, and the ball ended up ricocheting off one of the birds and getting past Coco Crisp, allowing Mark DeRosa to score. That’s not as classic as Randy Johnson hitting a bird with a pitch, but it’s pretty darn close. I’m just glad that the seagull wasn’t killed.
Finally, perhaps the most bizarre event of all was when the lights failed on Saturday night at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Tom and Josh spent about ten or fifteen minutes talking during the delay, and it was obvious they were struggling to find things to say. Thankfully, when it was announced that the delay might be a while, they were able to go off the air. According to T.R. Sullivan, (on the humorously titled ‘light delay theatre’ on KRLD) that was the first time a game had been delayed due to light failure in the history of the ballpark. However, he did say that it happened once during a game at the old stadium. Unfortunately the game didn’t end with a win, but results aside, one has to admit that this was one of the more unusual weeks of the baseball season.
The next two instances that piqued my interest took place on Friday. The first, as most know, concerned Milton Bradley. He actually had a pretty good game offensively, but that was overshadowed by his blunders on the base paths and the in the outfield, with the latter being the only people really cared about. In case you didn’t hear, Bradley caught a fly ball for the second out, thought it was the third out, posed, and then fired the ball into the stands. There are plenty of embarrassing things a player can do in a game, but is there one worse than that? Bradley just stood in the outfield as if nothing had really happened, but it was obvious he was humiliated. However, as Tom Grieve said, Milton came up with a very solid comeback after the game. The next instance came the same day, when the Indians were playing the Royals. Shin-Soo Choo hit a line drive single to center and it looked as if Coco Crisp would field it as normal. But it just so happened that a flock of seagulls had decided to camp out in center field, and the ball ended up ricocheting off one of the birds and getting past Coco Crisp, allowing Mark DeRosa to score. That’s not as classic as Randy Johnson hitting a bird with a pitch, but it’s pretty darn close. I’m just glad that the seagull wasn’t killed.
Finally, perhaps the most bizarre event of all was when the lights failed on Saturday night at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Tom and Josh spent about ten or fifteen minutes talking during the delay, and it was obvious they were struggling to find things to say. Thankfully, when it was announced that the delay might be a while, they were able to go off the air. According to T.R. Sullivan, (on the humorously titled ‘light delay theatre’ on KRLD) that was the first time a game had been delayed due to light failure in the history of the ballpark. However, he did say that it happened once during a game at the old stadium. Unfortunately the game didn’t end with a win, but results aside, one has to admit that this was one of the more unusual weeks of the baseball season.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Friday Foto: Another Romo . . . .
This really isn't relevant to the Rangers at all, I just thought it was funny to see the name "Romo" on the back of a baseball jersey. This guy's name is Sergio Romo, relief pitcher for the San Francisco Giants.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Wednesday: Overshadowed
The news of Ron Washington’s contract being exercised (cheered by some, begrudged by others) was somewhat overshadowed by Josh Hamilton’s surgery and Brandon McCarthy going to the DL. Despite his tendency to disappoint Ranger fans, I’ve always been a McCarthy fan, and I was really hoping that he could stay healthy and produce this season. Well, that’s not happening exactly the way I had wished, though his injury (a stress fracture in his shoulder blade) could have been much worse. Of the starters, Padilla, Benson (who has been assigned to AAA to make room for the newly acquired Jason Grilli), Harrison, and now McCarthy have been on the DL this year. The good news is that it hasn’t taken a toll on the team—at least for now. Kevin Millwood is the only pitcher from the original rotation who hasn’t suffered an injury. I wrote a while back about how keeping a healthy team will be vital for the Rangers this year. Well, so far that hasn’t been the case, which leads me to the offense side of the injuries, namely Josh Hamilton. Hamilton has missed more games than he’s played this year, and with the surgery, he likely won’t be back till around the All Star break. So much for the predictions, folks. But it doesn’t seem like Hamilton’s presence has been missed, thanks mainly to the production that Nelson Cruz has provided. So, injuries have riddled the Ranger’s season, and yet they’re still in first place. That’s because the Rangers have depth on their roster, something the Angels did not have when they struggled early on due to their excessive injury list.
After losing the first two games to the Blue Jays, the Rangers may have a tough time climbing back, especially since they play the Dodgers over the weekend. But if the Rangers could take 2 of 3 from Boston, then there's no reason they can't do it against LA, too.
After losing the first two games to the Blue Jays, the Rangers may have a tough time climbing back, especially since they play the Dodgers over the weekend. But if the Rangers could take 2 of 3 from Boston, then there's no reason they can't do it against LA, too.
Monday, June 08, 2009
Hello Win Column, Win #33: Two Outta Three Ain't Bad
Game Recap and Box Score
Game 57: Dice-K gets hit, Sox lose from Over the Monster
"Daisuke Matsuzaka certainly didn't pitch well on Sunday.
He took the hook in the 6-3 loss, but here's something nice: he walked zero batters. That's right. Not once did he throw a ball four. He struck out eight and allowed five runs in his 5.2 innings of work.
Blame the offense, too. The Nos. 1 through 5 hitters went a combined 1 for 16. If we want to win ballgames, that can absolutely not happen . . . "
This site recaps games with catch phrases and headlines:
It's Time to Bury the National Treasure from Boston Dirt Dogs
"Losing Two Out of Three Ain't Good
Nelson Cruz Was in Control
And It's 4 Hits for the Former Vaunted Red Sox Offense
Good News: Look Theo, No Walks for The $100 Million Man
Papelbon Checks with Official Scorer to See If That Was Save Opportunity
Rock, Paper Shoulder: Jacoby Joins J.D. Drew on Banged-Up List
At Least the Runners Looked Sharp on the Bases..."
"I thought he missed over the middle and up on a team that can really make you pay when you throw the ball in the middle."-- Red Sox manager Terry Francona like a needle on a broken record
Game 57: Dice-K gets hit, Sox lose from Over the Monster
"Daisuke Matsuzaka certainly didn't pitch well on Sunday.
He took the hook in the 6-3 loss, but here's something nice: he walked zero batters. That's right. Not once did he throw a ball four. He struck out eight and allowed five runs in his 5.2 innings of work.
Blame the offense, too. The Nos. 1 through 5 hitters went a combined 1 for 16. If we want to win ballgames, that can absolutely not happen . . . "
This site recaps games with catch phrases and headlines:
It's Time to Bury the National Treasure from Boston Dirt Dogs
"Losing Two Out of Three Ain't Good
Nelson Cruz Was in Control
And It's 4 Hits for the Former Vaunted Red Sox Offense
Good News: Look Theo, No Walks for The $100 Million Man
Papelbon Checks with Official Scorer to See If That Was Save Opportunity
Rock, Paper Shoulder: Jacoby Joins J.D. Drew on Banged-Up List
At Least the Runners Looked Sharp on the Bases..."
"I thought he missed over the middle and up on a team that can really make you pay when you throw the ball in the middle."-- Red Sox manager Terry Francona like a needle on a broken record
Hello Win Column, Win #32: Fun in Fenway, Finally
Game Box Score and Recap
Game 54: Penny knocked around, Sox lose from Over the Monster
"It just wasn't in the books for the Red Sox Friday night.
Penny ended up going 5.2 innings, allowed seven hits, five runs, two walks and struck out five. He looked good the first four innings. Then a big three-run home run by Ian Kinsler did him in.
Penny and the offense was "the ugly," while the bullpen was the "good" . . .
J.D. Drew did get on base four times, but that was the only bright spot of the Sox offense . . ."
This site recaps games by a series of catch-phrases and headlines:
It Takes Two to Make a Thing Go Wrong from Boston Dirt Dogs
"Maybe the Sox Should Head Back Out on the Road Again?
A Penny Flip, and Two Lugo Slips, Millwood Had Zip, Plus Kinsler's Roundtrip
Lugo's Lost a Step or Two, and You'll Find Green in the Lineup Tonight
No Double Vision: Ortiz Looked Focused, Dropped in a Seeing-Eye Single
Ian Kinsler, 14 HR, 41 RBIs, and Why Pedroia Is Grabbing Pine at the All-Star Game
Millwood Is Just the Latest Has-Been-Turned-Cy-Candidate By Sox Lineup
Good to Know: David Murphy Is What We Thought He Was
More Days in First Place for Nolan Ryan's Rangers Out West"
"His first four innings were as good as we've seen. He was throwing the ball really, really well. Then the next two I think he threw 50 pitches." -- Tito's thoughts on Penny
Game 54: Penny knocked around, Sox lose from Over the Monster
"It just wasn't in the books for the Red Sox Friday night.
Penny ended up going 5.2 innings, allowed seven hits, five runs, two walks and struck out five. He looked good the first four innings. Then a big three-run home run by Ian Kinsler did him in.
Penny and the offense was "the ugly," while the bullpen was the "good" . . .
J.D. Drew did get on base four times, but that was the only bright spot of the Sox offense . . ."
This site recaps games by a series of catch-phrases and headlines:
It Takes Two to Make a Thing Go Wrong from Boston Dirt Dogs
"Maybe the Sox Should Head Back Out on the Road Again?
A Penny Flip, and Two Lugo Slips, Millwood Had Zip, Plus Kinsler's Roundtrip
Lugo's Lost a Step or Two, and You'll Find Green in the Lineup Tonight
No Double Vision: Ortiz Looked Focused, Dropped in a Seeing-Eye Single
Ian Kinsler, 14 HR, 41 RBIs, and Why Pedroia Is Grabbing Pine at the All-Star Game
Millwood Is Just the Latest Has-Been-Turned-Cy-Candidate By Sox Lineup
Good to Know: David Murphy Is What We Thought He Was
More Days in First Place for Nolan Ryan's Rangers Out West"
"His first four innings were as good as we've seen. He was throwing the ball really, really well. Then the next two I think he threw 50 pitches." -- Tito's thoughts on Penny
Hello Win Column, Win #31: Rangers Win in the Bronx
Game Recap and Box Score
Let's hear from the losing locker room:
A-Rod, oh A-Rod from Pinstripe Alley
"[oh A-Rod] . . . you giveth and you taketh away.
"He drove in half the Yankee runs, yet accounted for the single most damning play of the evening: grounding into an inning-ending double-play with the bases full in the third inning (on a 3-1 pitch no less); that one play decreased the Yankees chances of winning by a whopping 16 percent. He came up with runners on in each of his next two at-bats and struck out both times (once with a runner on third and one out). The boos were raining down hard after that. You'd have to be blind to see he's not pressing . . .
Who knew Brett Tomko would pitch lights-out while Andy Pettitte would struggle mightily? Actually, we had an idea, since Pettitte has always struggled against Texas (5.50 career ERA before tonight). He gave up four runs in the first two innings (and was probably saved a few by Melky Cabrera's assist at third-base), and that was all Texas needed; Pettitte lasted just five innings due to throwing 104 pitches (including six walks!). Tomko threw three, allowing two hits, no walks and three K's."
Yanks can’t overcome Pettitte’s problems, lose to Rangers from River Avenue Blues
"Futile as the offense was, Andy Pettitte let the Rangers take control early. The first inning was particularly disastrous, with walks and some bad luck contributed to the Rangers’ three run rally . . .
The Yanks got a few chances to plate some runs, but were 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position. The one hit came from Alex Rodriguez in the first, plating Nick Swisher. But then A-Rod grounded into a double play with the bases loaded and one out in the third, and struck out with a runner on third and one out in the sixth. He heard the boos, which is always irritating. He didn’t deserve applause, but the guy who had driven in the Yanks sole run to that point doesn’t deserve the boos. Few, if any, Yankees do."
Let's hear from the losing locker room:
A-Rod, oh A-Rod from Pinstripe Alley
"[oh A-Rod] . . . you giveth and you taketh away.
"He drove in half the Yankee runs, yet accounted for the single most damning play of the evening: grounding into an inning-ending double-play with the bases full in the third inning (on a 3-1 pitch no less); that one play decreased the Yankees chances of winning by a whopping 16 percent. He came up with runners on in each of his next two at-bats and struck out both times (once with a runner on third and one out). The boos were raining down hard after that. You'd have to be blind to see he's not pressing . . .
Who knew Brett Tomko would pitch lights-out while Andy Pettitte would struggle mightily? Actually, we had an idea, since Pettitte has always struggled against Texas (5.50 career ERA before tonight). He gave up four runs in the first two innings (and was probably saved a few by Melky Cabrera's assist at third-base), and that was all Texas needed; Pettitte lasted just five innings due to throwing 104 pitches (including six walks!). Tomko threw three, allowing two hits, no walks and three K's."
Yanks can’t overcome Pettitte’s problems, lose to Rangers from River Avenue Blues
"Futile as the offense was, Andy Pettitte let the Rangers take control early. The first inning was particularly disastrous, with walks and some bad luck contributed to the Rangers’ three run rally . . .
The Yanks got a few chances to plate some runs, but were 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position. The one hit came from Alex Rodriguez in the first, plating Nick Swisher. But then A-Rod grounded into a double play with the bases loaded and one out in the third, and struck out with a runner on third and one out in the sixth. He heard the boos, which is always irritating. He didn’t deserve applause, but the guy who had driven in the Yanks sole run to that point doesn’t deserve the boos. Few, if any, Yankees do."
Monday Movie: Rotten Tomatoes Show-Baseball Edition
If you follow film critics, you probably know about Rotten Tomatoes, one of the most popular film sites on the web. Rotten Tomatoes also features video episodes, and I managed to find one about baseball movies that is quite amusing.
Monday: No More 300?
Last week, Randy Johnson, as we all know, picked up his 300th victory, a milestone that when achieved all but guarantees a spot in the Hall of Fame. How rare is this feat? Extremely rare. Only 24 pitchers in history have achieved it, and only 4 in the last ten years. It’s hard to believe that Cy Young, who holds the record for most career victories, has over two hundred more wins than Randy Johnson does now in the exact same number of seasons, 22. Obviously, the big question doesn’t have anything to do with the past or present, but rather the future. Will there be another pitcher who wins 300 games? I had always taken it for granted that there would be, but when I started hearing sports writers and talk show hosts talk about the slim chances of this happening, I began to rearrange my thoughts and consider the options myself.
The first name that came to my mind was Jake Peavy. I’ve always considered him to be a premiere pitcher. He’s young, 28, and he’s been around for a long time. But then I looked at his career wins, and saw a somewhat substandard total 91. This is already Peavy’s eighth season with San Diego, and though he’s had some seasons with an exceptional ERA, his win-loss record has averaged around the 12-10 mark. He’s only made it over 15 wins once when he picked up 19 back in 2007. So unless Peavy can put it together and start consistently winning 18-20 games a season, he’s pretty much out of the question.
The next name that probably comes to everybody’s mind is Johan Santana, who has been ranked among the game’s best starters the last several years. Though a possible candidate for 300, the chances are more out of Santana’s favor because he really didn’t put his career in order until 2004. Now he’s 30 years old, and he only has 116 wins. Though he’s been plagued by low run support, I think Santana doesn’t have much of a shot, simply because it would be extremely difficult to attain nearly 200 wins in the next ten years, if he’s even playing then. He would basically need to average 20 wins a season. It could happen, but I wouldn’t bank on it.
Since he rose to prominence in 2003, Carlos Zambrano has been the front-runner for 300 win candidacy. Like Peavy, he’s only 28, and he just recently picked up his 100th career victory. But now Zambrano is saying that he’s done after his current contract, so, unless he decides otherwise, he no longer seems to be in favor.
There are other names like Jamie Moyer (46 and still chugging), Brandon Webb, and Roy Oswalt that are worthy of mention, but not serious contenders. Then there are young guns like Tim Lincecum, Felix Hernandez who could make a run at it.
The bottom line though is that pitchers aren’t trained like they used to be. In the old days starters went deeper into games and pitched more often. Also, now it isn’t such a necessity for a starter to pick up a win. Managers look for the starter to go six innings, keep the team in the game, and let the bullpen do the rest. Though stats and history indicate otherwise, I still hold true to my belief, though it’s diminished in light of recent speculation, that there will be another pitcher who wins 300 games. Of all the great athletes that are coming through the system, I believe that one of them will still seriously contend for that record spot of 300 wins. If that’s not the case, well, I guess pitchers can start looking at 200 wins as the new great plateau. Just kidding.
The first name that came to my mind was Jake Peavy. I’ve always considered him to be a premiere pitcher. He’s young, 28, and he’s been around for a long time. But then I looked at his career wins, and saw a somewhat substandard total 91. This is already Peavy’s eighth season with San Diego, and though he’s had some seasons with an exceptional ERA, his win-loss record has averaged around the 12-10 mark. He’s only made it over 15 wins once when he picked up 19 back in 2007. So unless Peavy can put it together and start consistently winning 18-20 games a season, he’s pretty much out of the question.
The next name that probably comes to everybody’s mind is Johan Santana, who has been ranked among the game’s best starters the last several years. Though a possible candidate for 300, the chances are more out of Santana’s favor because he really didn’t put his career in order until 2004. Now he’s 30 years old, and he only has 116 wins. Though he’s been plagued by low run support, I think Santana doesn’t have much of a shot, simply because it would be extremely difficult to attain nearly 200 wins in the next ten years, if he’s even playing then. He would basically need to average 20 wins a season. It could happen, but I wouldn’t bank on it.
Since he rose to prominence in 2003, Carlos Zambrano has been the front-runner for 300 win candidacy. Like Peavy, he’s only 28, and he just recently picked up his 100th career victory. But now Zambrano is saying that he’s done after his current contract, so, unless he decides otherwise, he no longer seems to be in favor.
There are other names like Jamie Moyer (46 and still chugging), Brandon Webb, and Roy Oswalt that are worthy of mention, but not serious contenders. Then there are young guns like Tim Lincecum, Felix Hernandez who could make a run at it.
The bottom line though is that pitchers aren’t trained like they used to be. In the old days starters went deeper into games and pitched more often. Also, now it isn’t such a necessity for a starter to pick up a win. Managers look for the starter to go six innings, keep the team in the game, and let the bullpen do the rest. Though stats and history indicate otherwise, I still hold true to my belief, though it’s diminished in light of recent speculation, that there will be another pitcher who wins 300 games. Of all the great athletes that are coming through the system, I believe that one of them will still seriously contend for that record spot of 300 wins. If that’s not the case, well, I guess pitchers can start looking at 200 wins as the new great plateau. Just kidding.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
One Man's All Star ballot: Part I
Well, as you may have noticed, the HWC weekly stattracker has taken a couple weekends off now. Don't worry, I intend to get that little feature back on track soon enough - given the time that's elapsed, there will hopefully be some interesting trends to muse over by then. For now I've decided to tackle what I feel is another timely issue: the 2009 MLB All-Star voting, and more specifically, how I've gone about putting together my 2009 All Star ballots this year (so far).
I must admit, I don't put too much stock into the "All Star" label anymore when looking to judge a players talent or season performance. Between the fan voting, the player voting and the requirement of each team to have it's a representative on the All-Star roster no matter what, being awarded the label doesn't always necessarily mean that you where one of the league's best players.
That said, it's still a big event for the baseball community (or at least Bud Selig tries hard to keep it that way) and last year's ASG starting lineup wasn't too bad merit-wise (and I don't say that just because three Rangers got in) so flaws or not, lets not go writing the event off completely. It may not be voting for the hall of fame or anything, but as a baseball fan I still take a some degree of pride in at least trying to get it right, so tonight will be the first part of my retrospective on how I've voted thus far, starting with the American League.
Before I dive in, a quick listing of the stats I've been looking at in making my voting determinations is in order: along with the good old fashioned AVG/OBP/SLG trifecta and OPS, I've also started looking at wOBA (weighted On-base Average) as a good overall indicator of a players offensive performance, UZR for defense and to help put the entire picture together, a glance at Fangraphs' value numbers, which will tell us how many wins above replacement (WAR) a guy's been worth. Trust me, it sounds a lot more complicated and brainy than it really is. Especially considering Fangraphs has really cool leaderboards where you can look all those things up by league and position.
First Base
Leaderboard
The AL has a pretty good crop of first basemen worth considering this year, but this decision wound up being fairly easy for me. Kevin Youkilis leads the AL in every offensive category I mentioned above except batting average (and he's second in that), with an AL-leading .468 wOBA. He's third among 1B's in UZR and he leads in WAR a 2.5 (technically Victor Martinez is tied with him on the Fangrapghs leaderboards, but he's listed as a catcher on the ballots).
If you don't want to vote for a Red Sock though, Russel Branyan has turned out to be a better pickup than the Mariners had even fantasized so far and Justin Morneau is having quite a season for the Twins. Both are on Youk's heels in every offensive category, and as a result just 0.2 points behind their Boston counterpart with a 2.3 WAR. Defensively is where they differ however - Morneau has been a butcher in the field, ranking 3 full runs below replacement, and while Branyan is only just slightly below replacement himself, their deficiencies in that department is what makes me go with Youkilis (even though he's #2 on my top 5 most hated Red Sox list).
Second Base
Leaderboard
Welcome to the Ian Kinsler show, folks. Despite his noted road struggles this year, Kinsler's overall numbers still have him pretty much head and shoulders above the second base competition right now. He's got 19 points on Dustin Pedroia in wOBA, and is the only AL 2B slugging over .500 (at .549). He's worth 5.6 runs above replacement at second (third on the defensive leaderboard), and overall he's good for a 2.7 WAR, which not only leads the second basemen but is tied for third among all AL position players. On a side note, looking this up really makes me realize I'd forgotten how good Ian has been this year of late - which is really, really freaking good.
Toronto's Aaron Hill and last years ASG starter Dustin Pedroia are both having extremely good seasons as well - Pedroia's .412 OBP leads AL second-sackers, but other than batting average that's the only kind of edge either of them have on Kinsler.
Shortstop
Leaderboard
As is par for the course, there's probably not much chance of any AL shortstop not named Derek Jeter winning the vote at this position. At least he has a legit case, though, with the second-bast wOBA among AL SS's and a positive UZR for the first time in his career since... well... as far back as UZR goes.
Thanks to Jason Bartlett and Marco Scutaro though, two light hitting defensive wizards who are having shockingly good offensive first halfs however, Jeets has got some serious competition, to say the least. Offensively Bartlett has been rather insane this year, posting a .373/.418/.596 line, good for a .451 wOBA. Crazy stuff from a guy with a .329 career wOBA. Only problem is, he's currently on the DL with an ankle sprain, and though I believe he's due to come off the DL sometime soon, we'll have to see how that affects his numbers once he comes back.
That brings us to Marco Scutaro, who the Rangers will get to see this week in Toronto. Not only has he been crazy good offensively this year himself (.376 wOBA, just two points below Jeter) but he's got the second-best UZR among AL shortstops at 5.1 (second only to Elvis Andrus, by the way). That's what differentiates him from Jeter and Bartlett, who are quite a ways behind with UZR's of 1.5 and 1.2, respectively. In terms of WAR, the defensive angle tied him and Bartlett at 2.7, with Jeter trailing at 2.2.
Bartlett's insane offensive season would get him my vote if he weren't DL'd, but since he is it kind of makes it a crapshoot - and in this crapshoot I'll go with the most well rounded player, and that's Scutaro. And even if he wasn't, well... he's still better than voting for Jeter.
Third Base
Leaderboard
Now for the biggest no-brainer on this half of the ballot. Allow me to introduce Evan Longoria, whom you might remember as the 2008 AL rookie of the year. I don't know if it's possible to shatter your own hype when you've been hyped as one of the very best hitting prospects in the game, but that's pretty much what Longoria has done this year. Might as well get the big stat out of the way first: that would be a 3.2 WAR, which not only leads AL third basemen, but all qualified AL players. He's been good for a .320/.392/.611 line (1.003 OPS), a 424 wOBA, and plus 5.7 runs UZR-wise. You lucky, lucky Tampa bay Rays.
For you Ranger fans who want to tow the party line and vote Michael Young based on his .400 wOBA (which is "just" 24 points behind Longoria) you should know that defensively Young is -7.7 runs below replacement however, which isn't just dead last among third basemen, it's 6th worst in the entire AL. That drags his WAR all the way down to 1.3, 4th among the 3B's. Pesky little Brandon Inge has actually been the second-best AL third sacker thanks to his defense - which is 7.6 runs in the right direction - and a .374 wOBA.
Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Seriously? Brandon Inge has a .374 wOBA?
Catcher
Leaderboard
Well, according to the Fangraphs leaderboard, there's only 3 qualified catchers (Victor Martinez, Jason Varitek and Kurt Suzuki), so if you want to get the whole picture you have to open it up to all catchers period - which means having to skip by some extremely small sample size wonders if you do. Catcher is also the one defensive position you can't really judge statistically (at least to my knowledge) since there's also really no such thing as UZR for catchers and range factors and such don't really mean much in this case.
So having to rely on offensive stats, I'm torn between Victor Martinez (.344/.412/.555 line, .417 wOBA and a 2.5 WAR and 257 PA's) and Joe Mauer (.410/.497/.795, 528 wOBA, 3.1 WAR, but just 149 PA's). Normally I'd lean toward the larger sample size, but since V-Mart has had 117 of his PA's at first base, I think you've gotta go with Mauer's video game-crazy numbers.
Outfield
Leaderboards
Nelson Cruz is the new Josh Hamilton. No, really. I'm serious. In fact, he might be better. Because as of right now, Nelson Cruz is the best outfielder in the American League.
Yeah, I know Jason Bay is kind of having a bat-guano crazy offensive season. So is Adam Jones, the kid the O's stole from the Mariners for Erik Bedard. And, grudgingly enough, Torri Hunter as well. But hey, so is Nelson Cruz. Those four are the top four among AL OF's in wOBA. And unlike the three above him, Nelson Cruz is also the best defensive outfielder in the AL. In fact, forget the outfield, Cruz's 10.3 UZR is the highest of any position player in the AL. Which, actually is a bit of a novelty, considering all four of the other top 5 AL OF's in wOBA (Johnny Damon being #5) are all on the negative side in UZR. Bay and Jones are actually third and fourth to last, in fact.
What that defensive wrinkle means is that Nellie Cruz rocks a 3.0 WAR - second only to Evan Longoria in the AL. And what that means is that if Nelson Cruz does not go to St. Lous, it will be a crime (so vote harder, people!).
Cruz aside however, there's still two slots to fill in the outfield, and plenty of guys to fill it with. Once could reward one of or both of Jason Bay or Adam Jones for basically being the best offensive OF's in the AL and ignore their terrible defense - or you could vote for Carl Crawford and Torri Hunter who are the only other OF's besides Cruz with WAR's above 2.0 (2.2 and 2.1 respectively). Cases could even be made for guys like Ichirio, Johnny Damon, and Shin SooChoo of the Indians.
I think I'll compromise and go with Adam Jones (whose WAR is still 1.8) and Crawford - which, as you may have noticed, means I can avoid voting for the Red Sock and the Angel, while rubbing it in the face of the poor Mariner fans.
Next time I'll run through the choices on the National League half of the ballot - if I have time, maybe I'll even do it midweek so I can get the weekly scoreboard rolling again next weekend.
In the meantime, I'd love to hear how you, the reader are filling out your all-star ballot this year.
I must admit, I don't put too much stock into the "All Star" label anymore when looking to judge a players talent or season performance. Between the fan voting, the player voting and the requirement of each team to have it's a representative on the All-Star roster no matter what, being awarded the label doesn't always necessarily mean that you where one of the league's best players.
That said, it's still a big event for the baseball community (or at least Bud Selig tries hard to keep it that way) and last year's ASG starting lineup wasn't too bad merit-wise (and I don't say that just because three Rangers got in) so flaws or not, lets not go writing the event off completely. It may not be voting for the hall of fame or anything, but as a baseball fan I still take a some degree of pride in at least trying to get it right, so tonight will be the first part of my retrospective on how I've voted thus far, starting with the American League.
Before I dive in, a quick listing of the stats I've been looking at in making my voting determinations is in order: along with the good old fashioned AVG/OBP/SLG trifecta and OPS, I've also started looking at wOBA (weighted On-base Average) as a good overall indicator of a players offensive performance, UZR for defense and to help put the entire picture together, a glance at Fangraphs' value numbers, which will tell us how many wins above replacement (WAR) a guy's been worth. Trust me, it sounds a lot more complicated and brainy than it really is. Especially considering Fangraphs has really cool leaderboards where you can look all those things up by league and position.
First Base
Leaderboard
The AL has a pretty good crop of first basemen worth considering this year, but this decision wound up being fairly easy for me. Kevin Youkilis leads the AL in every offensive category I mentioned above except batting average (and he's second in that), with an AL-leading .468 wOBA. He's third among 1B's in UZR and he leads in WAR a 2.5 (technically Victor Martinez is tied with him on the Fangrapghs leaderboards, but he's listed as a catcher on the ballots).
If you don't want to vote for a Red Sock though, Russel Branyan has turned out to be a better pickup than the Mariners had even fantasized so far and Justin Morneau is having quite a season for the Twins. Both are on Youk's heels in every offensive category, and as a result just 0.2 points behind their Boston counterpart with a 2.3 WAR. Defensively is where they differ however - Morneau has been a butcher in the field, ranking 3 full runs below replacement, and while Branyan is only just slightly below replacement himself, their deficiencies in that department is what makes me go with Youkilis (even though he's #2 on my top 5 most hated Red Sox list).
Second Base
Leaderboard
Welcome to the Ian Kinsler show, folks. Despite his noted road struggles this year, Kinsler's overall numbers still have him pretty much head and shoulders above the second base competition right now. He's got 19 points on Dustin Pedroia in wOBA, and is the only AL 2B slugging over .500 (at .549). He's worth 5.6 runs above replacement at second (third on the defensive leaderboard), and overall he's good for a 2.7 WAR, which not only leads the second basemen but is tied for third among all AL position players. On a side note, looking this up really makes me realize I'd forgotten how good Ian has been this year of late - which is really, really freaking good.
Toronto's Aaron Hill and last years ASG starter Dustin Pedroia are both having extremely good seasons as well - Pedroia's .412 OBP leads AL second-sackers, but other than batting average that's the only kind of edge either of them have on Kinsler.
Shortstop
Leaderboard
As is par for the course, there's probably not much chance of any AL shortstop not named Derek Jeter winning the vote at this position. At least he has a legit case, though, with the second-bast wOBA among AL SS's and a positive UZR for the first time in his career since... well... as far back as UZR goes.
Thanks to Jason Bartlett and Marco Scutaro though, two light hitting defensive wizards who are having shockingly good offensive first halfs however, Jeets has got some serious competition, to say the least. Offensively Bartlett has been rather insane this year, posting a .373/.418/.596 line, good for a .451 wOBA. Crazy stuff from a guy with a .329 career wOBA. Only problem is, he's currently on the DL with an ankle sprain, and though I believe he's due to come off the DL sometime soon, we'll have to see how that affects his numbers once he comes back.
That brings us to Marco Scutaro, who the Rangers will get to see this week in Toronto. Not only has he been crazy good offensively this year himself (.376 wOBA, just two points below Jeter) but he's got the second-best UZR among AL shortstops at 5.1 (second only to Elvis Andrus, by the way). That's what differentiates him from Jeter and Bartlett, who are quite a ways behind with UZR's of 1.5 and 1.2, respectively. In terms of WAR, the defensive angle tied him and Bartlett at 2.7, with Jeter trailing at 2.2.
Bartlett's insane offensive season would get him my vote if he weren't DL'd, but since he is it kind of makes it a crapshoot - and in this crapshoot I'll go with the most well rounded player, and that's Scutaro. And even if he wasn't, well... he's still better than voting for Jeter.
Third Base
Leaderboard
Now for the biggest no-brainer on this half of the ballot. Allow me to introduce Evan Longoria, whom you might remember as the 2008 AL rookie of the year. I don't know if it's possible to shatter your own hype when you've been hyped as one of the very best hitting prospects in the game, but that's pretty much what Longoria has done this year. Might as well get the big stat out of the way first: that would be a 3.2 WAR, which not only leads AL third basemen, but all qualified AL players. He's been good for a .320/.392/.611 line (1.003 OPS), a 424 wOBA, and plus 5.7 runs UZR-wise. You lucky, lucky Tampa bay Rays.
For you Ranger fans who want to tow the party line and vote Michael Young based on his .400 wOBA (which is "just" 24 points behind Longoria) you should know that defensively Young is -7.7 runs below replacement however, which isn't just dead last among third basemen, it's 6th worst in the entire AL. That drags his WAR all the way down to 1.3, 4th among the 3B's. Pesky little Brandon Inge has actually been the second-best AL third sacker thanks to his defense - which is 7.6 runs in the right direction - and a .374 wOBA.
Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Seriously? Brandon Inge has a .374 wOBA?
Catcher
Leaderboard
Well, according to the Fangraphs leaderboard, there's only 3 qualified catchers (Victor Martinez, Jason Varitek and Kurt Suzuki), so if you want to get the whole picture you have to open it up to all catchers period - which means having to skip by some extremely small sample size wonders if you do. Catcher is also the one defensive position you can't really judge statistically (at least to my knowledge) since there's also really no such thing as UZR for catchers and range factors and such don't really mean much in this case.
So having to rely on offensive stats, I'm torn between Victor Martinez (.344/.412/.555 line, .417 wOBA and a 2.5 WAR and 257 PA's) and Joe Mauer (.410/.497/.795, 528 wOBA, 3.1 WAR, but just 149 PA's). Normally I'd lean toward the larger sample size, but since V-Mart has had 117 of his PA's at first base, I think you've gotta go with Mauer's video game-crazy numbers.
Outfield
Leaderboards
Nelson Cruz is the new Josh Hamilton. No, really. I'm serious. In fact, he might be better. Because as of right now, Nelson Cruz is the best outfielder in the American League.
Yeah, I know Jason Bay is kind of having a bat-guano crazy offensive season. So is Adam Jones, the kid the O's stole from the Mariners for Erik Bedard. And, grudgingly enough, Torri Hunter as well. But hey, so is Nelson Cruz. Those four are the top four among AL OF's in wOBA. And unlike the three above him, Nelson Cruz is also the best defensive outfielder in the AL. In fact, forget the outfield, Cruz's 10.3 UZR is the highest of any position player in the AL. Which, actually is a bit of a novelty, considering all four of the other top 5 AL OF's in wOBA (Johnny Damon being #5) are all on the negative side in UZR. Bay and Jones are actually third and fourth to last, in fact.
What that defensive wrinkle means is that Nellie Cruz rocks a 3.0 WAR - second only to Evan Longoria in the AL. And what that means is that if Nelson Cruz does not go to St. Lous, it will be a crime (so vote harder, people!).
Cruz aside however, there's still two slots to fill in the outfield, and plenty of guys to fill it with. Once could reward one of or both of Jason Bay or Adam Jones for basically being the best offensive OF's in the AL and ignore their terrible defense - or you could vote for Carl Crawford and Torri Hunter who are the only other OF's besides Cruz with WAR's above 2.0 (2.2 and 2.1 respectively). Cases could even be made for guys like Ichirio, Johnny Damon, and Shin SooChoo of the Indians.
I think I'll compromise and go with Adam Jones (whose WAR is still 1.8) and Crawford - which, as you may have noticed, means I can avoid voting for the Red Sock and the Angel, while rubbing it in the face of the poor Mariner fans.
Next time I'll run through the choices on the National League half of the ballot - if I have time, maybe I'll even do it midweek so I can get the weekly scoreboard rolling again next weekend.
In the meantime, I'd love to hear how you, the reader are filling out your all-star ballot this year.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Thursday: The Rangers' Record
Perhaps the most telling statistic about the stretch of baseball the Rangers are about to play against the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Dodgers, which are all teams with above-.500 records, is:
Team Record Against sub-.500 teams: 25-10
Team Record Against .500+ teams: 5-11
As Evan Grant pointed out after a series loss to the Yankees in May, the Rangers don't play like contenders against other contenders. This is a bit worrisome, given the stretch of baseball that lies ahead.
On another note, the Rangers seem to be due for a slight regression record-wise. The Rangers have a Pythagorean Record of 28-23. Pythagorean Record is a concept developed by Bill James; A team's Pythagorean Record is the record that a team should have, based on the amount of runs they have scored and allowed; any deviance from this record is generally thought of as luck, which is prone to even out over the course of a season. If you want to know more, I actually gave a talk to the Applied Mathematics Seminar at OU on the Pythagorean Records, you can read my notes here.
For example, last year on August 4, the Rangers had a record of 59-54. Their Pythagorean Record, however, was 54-59. Their "luck" did indeed catch up to them, as they finished the season at 79-83.
So, as I said above, the Rangers are due for a slight regression: only 2 games. However, so are the Angels and Mariners. It's all relative.
Team Record Against sub-.500 teams: 25-10
Team Record Against .500+ teams: 5-11
As Evan Grant pointed out after a series loss to the Yankees in May, the Rangers don't play like contenders against other contenders. This is a bit worrisome, given the stretch of baseball that lies ahead.
On another note, the Rangers seem to be due for a slight regression record-wise. The Rangers have a Pythagorean Record of 28-23. Pythagorean Record is a concept developed by Bill James; A team's Pythagorean Record is the record that a team should have, based on the amount of runs they have scored and allowed; any deviance from this record is generally thought of as luck, which is prone to even out over the course of a season. If you want to know more, I actually gave a talk to the Applied Mathematics Seminar at OU on the Pythagorean Records, you can read my notes here.
For example, last year on August 4, the Rangers had a record of 59-54. Their Pythagorean Record, however, was 54-59. Their "luck" did indeed catch up to them, as they finished the season at 79-83.
So, as I said above, the Rangers are due for a slight regression: only 2 games. However, so are the Angels and Mariners. It's all relative.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Wednesday: Gone But Not Forgotten
Usually, ‘gone but not forgotten’ refers to someone who left a lasting impression in his or her particular field of work. In this case though, the phrase refers merely to a nagging recollection that I can’t get out of my head. Does anyone remember Tony Mounce? There have been plenty of terrible pitchers who have gone in and out of the Rangers’ system and most of them I cannot recall by sheer memory. For some reason though, Tony Mounce, who fits right into that category of pitchers, always comes popping into my head at random intervals throughout the year.
Mounce had an abortive big league career to say the least. The Rangers were the only team he ever pitched for. That was during the 2003 season. He was called up on June 13th and, after a trip to the minors, Mounce was recalled and pitched his final game on September 22nd. Mounce only had one victory in his short-lived baseball career. His final record was 1-5, with an ERA of 7.11. I seem to recall that Mounce always began his games with a no-hitter through the first few innings, and then he seemed to fall apart after that. I think that’s about the only semi-good thing I can say about his career, though he did have one game where he pitched six innings and only allowed two runs.
Mickey Mantle would be the epitome of someone who is gone but not forgotten, and Tony Mounce exemplifies someone completely the opposite. So the fact that I still remember this forgettable pitcher is a perfect example of the irrelevant and mysterious lasting impressions that some people give off.
Baseball-reference.com.
Mounce had an abortive big league career to say the least. The Rangers were the only team he ever pitched for. That was during the 2003 season. He was called up on June 13th and, after a trip to the minors, Mounce was recalled and pitched his final game on September 22nd. Mounce only had one victory in his short-lived baseball career. His final record was 1-5, with an ERA of 7.11. I seem to recall that Mounce always began his games with a no-hitter through the first few innings, and then he seemed to fall apart after that. I think that’s about the only semi-good thing I can say about his career, though he did have one game where he pitched six innings and only allowed two runs.
Mickey Mantle would be the epitome of someone who is gone but not forgotten, and Tony Mounce exemplifies someone completely the opposite. So the fact that I still remember this forgettable pitcher is a perfect example of the irrelevant and mysterious lasting impressions that some people give off.
Baseball-reference.com.
Welcome to the New Site!
Welcome to our new URL! Don't worry -- we're going to pick up right where we left off.
Thomas, Jon, and I are grateful for your interest in our site thus far, and we hope that you continue to enjoy our work.
Go Rangers!
John Paul
Thomas, Jon, and I are grateful for your interest in our site thus far, and we hope that you continue to enjoy our work.
Go Rangers!
John Paul
Monday, June 01, 2009
Tuesday: Team Splits
"Splits", for those who don't know, is the term given to how players perform in different scenarios. For example: lefty/righty, day/night, home/road, etc. Let's take a look at the interesting splits that the Rangers have formed as a team:
Author's note: all statistics are current as of 5/30 (when this post was written)
Home/Road:
The Ranger hitters at RBiA are slamming a .285/.357/.521, but away from home they only manage a meager .249/.294/.447.
The Ranger pitchers at RBiA have allowed a modest .277/.346/.448, and on the road they improved to .259/.332/.413.
April/May:
The Ranger hitters have been extremely consistent throughout both months of the young season so far, hitting .269/.329/.497 in April and .266/.326/.475 in May. However, over the last two weeks, they have only managed a weak .228/.300/.446.
The Ranger pitchers in April were 10-11 with a 5.70 ERA, but in May completely reversed course to 19-8 with a 3.61 line. They went from allowing .287/.365/.479 in April to .253/.318/.393 in May.
Number of Outs:
The Ranger hitters' performance worsens as the inning progresses (I don't know enough about this stat to know if this is normal or not):
0 outs: .288/.342/.555
1 out: .272/.326/.516
2 outs: .241/.313/.377
Strangely, the Ranger pitchers' performance also worsens as the inning progresses (measured by line of opposing hitters):
0 outs: .247/.320/.426
1 out: .294/.341/.415
2 outs: .265/.358/.456
Source: baseball-reference.com
Author's note: all statistics are current as of 5/30 (when this post was written)
Home/Road:
The Ranger hitters at RBiA are slamming a .285/.357/.521, but away from home they only manage a meager .249/.294/.447.
The Ranger pitchers at RBiA have allowed a modest .277/.346/.448, and on the road they improved to .259/.332/.413.
April/May:
The Ranger hitters have been extremely consistent throughout both months of the young season so far, hitting .269/.329/.497 in April and .266/.326/.475 in May. However, over the last two weeks, they have only managed a weak .228/.300/.446.
The Ranger pitchers in April were 10-11 with a 5.70 ERA, but in May completely reversed course to 19-8 with a 3.61 line. They went from allowing .287/.365/.479 in April to .253/.318/.393 in May.
Number of Outs:
The Ranger hitters' performance worsens as the inning progresses (I don't know enough about this stat to know if this is normal or not):
0 outs: .288/.342/.555
1 out: .272/.326/.516
2 outs: .241/.313/.377
Strangely, the Ranger pitchers' performance also worsens as the inning progresses (measured by line of opposing hitters):
0 outs: .247/.320/.426
1 out: .294/.341/.415
2 outs: .265/.358/.456
Source: baseball-reference.com
Monday Movie: Ryan beats Ventura
Of course everyone, even non-Ranger fans, know about this, but some baseball moments are meant to be shared time and time again.
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