Category Archives: Statistics

Why Hasn’t David Wright Hit a Homerun Yet?

Posted on April 13, 2013 | Leave a comment

David Wright is having a great start to the 2013 season. To-date, the 30 year-old Mets captain is batting .293 with a 17.7% BB%, 139 OPS+ (4 points above his career rate), and has even made some fantastic defensive plays. With teammates John Buck, Daniel Murphy, and Lucas Duda all powering the Mets offense, the fate of the Mets’ run production hasn’t entirely fallen on the shoulders of the Virginia native. Heck, Matt Harvey‘s ace-like three starts have even pushed Wright out of the New York Mets spotlight for the time being.

That said, through 11 games, Wright has yet to hit a homerun.

Even though it’s far too soon to actually be worried, Wright’s inability to go yard is perplexing, and would certainly become an issue once Buck ceases to hit like Lou Gehrig. Despite the small sample size, some of the Wright’s peripherals look similar to or worse than his 2009 peripherals; the season Wright only hit 10 homeruns. Continue reading →

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Closer Looks, Statistics

Tagged , , , , ,

Is Fernando Rodney For Real?

Posted on April 15, 2012 | 3 Comments

If you listen closely, you can probably still hear the boos echoing within the walls at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Fernando Rodney was not a fan favorite while he was with the Angels–and especially not so in 2011. The right-hander endured his worst season as a veteran last season, pitching to the tune of a 4.50 ERA, 1.69 WHIP, and career-worst 0.93 K/BB fueled by an eye-popping 7.9 BB/9. Rodney was worthy of the boos, however; to the fans’ credit, he was flat-out bad.

Yet despite the dismal performance, the Tampa Bay Rays threw Rodney a life-line, and signed him to a one-year, $2 million deal. With Kyle Farnsworth and Joel Peralta in-tow as their closer and setup-man, respectively, it seemed as though Rodney would not get a sniff of save opportunities in St. Petersburg. But baseball has its way of surprising everyone. Farnsworth succumbed to an immediate injury–sidelining him for at least a month–and subsequently thrust Rodney and his suddenly valuable closing experience into the role. And to the surprise of everyone–perhaps Rodney included–the guy has done one hell of a job. Continue reading →

→ 3 Comments

Posted in Statistics

Tagged , , , , , , ,

The Importance of Bench Depth

Posted on April 13, 2012 | 3 Comments

Pictured (L to R) are Mookie Wilson, Tim Teufel, Howie Johnson, Bob Ojeda and Ron Darling of the 1986 New York Mets.

After soaring through their first four games, the New York Mets hit a wall. It wasn’t because their luck ran out, but rather, David Wright fractured his pinkie–preventing him from playing another game. More importantly than subtracting Wright and his .583/.647/.833 line so far, it left the Mets with Ronny Cedeno to pick-up the scraps.

While Cedeno has been known as a terrific fielder (6.8 UZR/150 in 1050.3 innings at SS in 2011), his bat is equally as infamous–but in the opposite way. In fact, Cedeno has just been worth 1.3 fWAR over the course of his entire career due to his lackluster lumber. The Mets inability to replace Wright’s presence with at least league-average production most certainly played a role in the two subsequent Mets losses. But that begs the question–how important is bench depth? Continue reading →

→ 3 Comments

Posted in Statistics

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

The Top Five Control Artists in 2011

Posted on October 21, 2011 | 2 Comments

One of pitching coach’s least favorite things in the world are walks. Walks lead to base runners, and base runners often lead to runs. While being a “control artist” isn’t as sexy as being a “strikeout artist,” sometimes the former is more important. Below are the top five “control artists” from 2011.

Josh Tomlin (1.14 BB/9): In Tomlin’s first full-season, the right-hander provided the Cleveland Indians with a tremendous, cheap asset. The starter won 12 ballgames, while posting a 4.25 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and 4.24 K/BB. His 1.14 BB/9 led the entire Major Leagues too. Tomlin exhibited better strikeout numbers in 2010 (from 5.30 K/9 to 4.84 K/9), but his xFIP improved mightily in 2011 (from 4.76 xFIP to 4.03 xFIP). The Indians should be very excited about the 26 year-old’s future with the team. Continue reading →

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Statistics

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How Much Money is a Win Worth?

Posted on September 29, 2011 | 3 Comments

Courtesy of Trib Live

To quote former New York Jets-coach Herm Edwards, “You play to win the game.” That goal crosses all sports, so baseball is no different. Every team’s goal is to win. We’re not just talking about one game–or even one hundred–we’re talking about popping that sweet World Series champagne after winning the most meaningful game of all. But before player’s can bask in the suds of glory, money must be spent to form that winning team. The real question, however, is how much money should be spent?

Many people feel that spending money translates to winning. The prime example of this are the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies. The Yankees are the league’s richest spenders, boasting a salary of $207,047,964–which is about $41 million more than the second highest salary (Phillies). Both the Yankees and Phillies are arguably the two best teams in baseball, with 97 wins and 101 wins, respectively, so maybe spending money does result in wins. Continue reading →

→ 3 Comments

Posted in Statistics

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

They Get to (Almost) Everything

Posted on August 31, 2011 | Leave a comment

Courtesy of Photobucket

“How on earth did HE get to THAT?” It’s a question most, if not all, baseball fans have wondered (or screamed). Simply judging a fielder by the amount of errors he commits doesn’t quite paint the full picture of how good or bad a fielder is.

In fact, there are some players who might even commit more errors than another fielder, but on that same token, are able to reach more balls–thus put themselves in more defensive situations/plays. This measurement is of course called “range.” Below are the top ten fielders who excel in range runs above average (via FanGraphs’ calculations). Continue reading →

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Statistics

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,