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1,560 comments Add your comment
Shaun
September 1st, 2010
10:40 am
Glen W, good question about Jose Bautista. Bautista’s flyball rate has risen significantly. He has clearly learned to adjust his swing to hit more fly balls and to essentially go for homeruns without taking away from his overall production. I would argue that this is somewhat sustainable and we will find out it is sustainable when Bautista continues to hit homeruns fairly frequently over the next several seasons. But no matter how hard Hudson tries, I would bet that he will not post a BABiP near the .240’s again over the next several seasons. There is a big difference between a hitter clearly adjusting his swing to go for homers and a pitcher allowing batted balls that are ending up in the right place. No matter how hard Hudson tries, he won’t sustain a BABiP in the .240’s. But Bautista can make adjustments and hit 30-50 homers in a season.
CraZyTRaDeMaN ©
September 1st, 2010
10:41 am
Now, to get brash, when some of you are ready to put your fandom aside and talk big-boy analysis then we can have an intelligent discussion of BABiP, defense, luck and pitching.—Shaun
Do I have to wear big black frame glasses, have high-water jeans held up with plaid suspenders, have a pocket protector and be a virgin to participate in this discussion? It sounds so interesting. [As I jab an ice pick in my eye]
. Don
September 1st, 2010
10:41 am
Relating to almost half of our remaining games being with Florida and Washington — If we continue that same winning percentage in those games, it may not protect our Division lead. Granted, our past record this season with these teams may have little or nothing to do with what will happen in those next twelve games with them.
Fred
September 1st, 2010
10:41 am
.Don, A factor not addressed in your McLouth/Infante post is that CF is not Infante’s best position. I agree that the Braves stayed with McLouth way too long but I would have preferred Melky or Blanco in CF on a regular basis. Under that scenario, they could have used Infante in LF (instead of Melky) which isn’t as defensively demanding as CF.
DAP
September 1st, 2010
10:41 am
for infante’s contract, look at what mark derosa got…and he got it before the economy and MLB salaries went down. hye played like a backup in atlanta, ten after his good couple of seasons in texas, he signed a 3 year $13mil deal. about $4.3mil per. then he signed a two year $12mil deal with san fran. the infante we have, based on age and recent performance, more closley resembles the derosa who got a 3 year $13mil contract, just a little younger.
i think if i were gonna try to extend infante, i would offer another two year deal with a third year option and a decent buy out, with each year being worth about $3.5mil. you sign him as a utility player, not a starter.
Shaun
September 1st, 2010
10:42 am
Glen W, well it’s not all luck. It’s defense, too. And some of it is Hudson’s ability to get groundballs. Hudson’s career BABiP is lower than the typical BABiP for pitchers, so Hudson definitely has the ability to get outs more often on balls in play than a typical pitcher. But his defense and luck have clearly helped him out a great deal this season.
Brian from SC
September 1st, 2010
10:42 am
Granted, our past record this season with these teams may have little or nothing to do with what will happen in those next twelve games with them.
LOL…ya think?! You kill me, you really do.
Lew
September 1st, 2010
10:45 am
don-Of course, Philly’s Diviosal record is extremely similar to ours (as is most of the inter deivision records in the NLEast), but why would you have known that.? You would have had to actually look something up. And just so you know, we’re 7-5 against the Phillies and have six games left with them.
Lew
September 1st, 2010
10:46 am
DAP-Thing about DeRo is that he’s got a track record of doing what he does. Omar’s resume is NOT nearly as extensive. Let’s wait and see what Omar brings to the table next year before we think about a longer term extension.
richbrave
September 1st, 2010
10:47 am
DOWN ON THE FARM:
Probably my only day of rest freom the road and sight-seeing. Can’t pull up two windows at the same time so I had to write down so highlights from the minors. here’s what I found.
DSL and GCL: Shut-down for the year.
DANVILLE:
Playing their last game of the season, the D-BRAVES go out with a blast thrashing the BURLINGTON club 12-0. Local RICHMOND product CF KURT FLEMING (.333 BA) and C CORY BROWSTEN (.750 BA) enjoyed their few AB’s in ROOKIE+-ball. FLEMING went 3-5 yesterday, 2B (1), 2R. BROWNSTEN 3-4, 2 @B (2), 5 RBI (5), 3R.
ROME:
SS ED SALCEDO (.203 BA) finally got his nose above the mendoza line going 2-3, HR (2), 3 RBI (16), 1R.
ARODYS VIZCAINO (2.30 ERA) goes 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R/ER, 0 BB, 1 SO. Why he was pulled after one I was unable to ascertain.ANDY NORTHCRAFT (1-2, 6.17 ERA) comes on in long relief and gets his first A-ball win going 5.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO. DAVID HALE (SV 5) picks up a save finishing out the game with 3.0 innings of perfection and 5 SO.
MYRTLE BEACH:
CODY JOHNSON (.288 BA) goes deep once again as he has a 1-4 night with 1 H, 1 HR (5), 3 RBI (22), 1R.
CORY RASMUS (4.34 ERA) starts and is savaged as is his relief. COLE ROHRBAUGH (10.34 ERA) closes the loss out with 2.0 innings of 2H ball, zeros, and a SO.
MISSISSIPPI:
YASSER GOMEZ (.304 BA) goes 1-4, RBI (6).
Starter TIM GUSTAFSON (4-3, 4.72 ERA) ishammered giving up the farm in 6.0 IP. He allows 6 H, 1 HR, 6 R/ER, 1 BB, 1 SO. Big KYLE COFIELD pitches 2.0 innings surrendering three hits, but one one unearned run, no walks, and one strike-out.
GWINNETT:
CF ANTOAN RICHARDSON (.500 BA) enjoyed his first AB’s in AAA going 2-4, 2B JOE THURSTON (.270 BA) 2-4, HR (13), RBI (67), 1R.
JOSE ORTEGANO (3-10, 6.12 ERA) just doesn’t have AAA quality stuff yet. Whether he ever will appears problematic at this point. Last night, he goes 5.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO. VLAD ‘THE IMPALOR’ NUNEZ (4.32 ERA) is being impaled more than doing the impaling lately. 1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R/ER, 1 BB, 1 SO. His days in AAA may be waning. LEE HYDE (4.50 ERA) closes out the TIDE hit-fest with 1.o inning of one hit, 0 R/ER work.
Lew
September 1st, 2010
10:47 am
Uh, can’t we all just agree that Hudson’s having a great year and leave it at that?
raleighbravefan
September 1st, 2010
10:47 am
Lew and Brian SC – There do seem to be 3 groups of obsessive (and annoying) posters who can’t “just let it go”:
1 – The “stat geeks” who think all the latest stats are more important than any other factors, go on and on about WAR, BABIP, etc. on and on , and are sanctimonious about their superior knowledge, and our inability to get their point (a la Shaun)
2 – The haters, like Don, Mitchell, et al, who prattle on about nothing ad nausium, hoping someone will pay attention to them.
3 – The trolls from mets and phillies, who just like to show their @ss and stir up trouble.
The best remedy is to ignore these people. Unfortunately, it is difficult not to get sucked into their trap, and rebut them (to no avail, of course. This just serves to feed them more).
. Don
September 1st, 2010
10:48 am
Brian, – don’t understand your post of 10:08.
Surely, you are not sayig that the truest measure of a hitter is not whether he hits in low run, game determining situatuions – whether he hits low close games when it determines whether or not you win.
Shaun
September 1st, 2010
10:49 am
Glen W, basically we’d expect Hudson’s BABiP to be in the .280 range as that his his career BABiP. That’s lower than the typical .290-.300 range for most pitchers. So Hudson clearly has the skills to get outs more often than other pitchers on balls in play. The thing is that his BABiP this season is in the .240’s, which is well under even the most optimistic expectations of what we would expect from Hudson’s groundball-inducting skills.
Glen W
September 1st, 2010
10:51 am
Shaun, ok we are making some progress here I think. There is an explanation for Bautista’s performance (mechanical adjustment). But I would think that we would agree that he is not going to hit 50 homeruns every season. (He is on pace for 53 this year).
I agree that Hudson will likely perform next year to an ERA around 3.00-3.50 and a BABIP of .275-.290. But just as Bautista is doing something physically different than he has in the past, so is Hudson.
Hudson is hitting his spots and getting good late movement in a way that he has not in recent seasons. That’s an explanation that is based upon what he is doing. it does not have to be explained by luck.
Baseball players are not robots that would perform at exactly the same level across their career minus the other factors (ballparks, luck, etc.) Sometimes they go through stretches that have them playing at the absolute highest level they can given their talent and skills. And that is what we are seeing in Hudson this year.
Sustainable? No. Lucky? No.
richbrave
September 1st, 2010
10:51 am
Got a line backed up waiting for the computor. Gotta’ go.
LEW:
Agree on MATTY D. Love the guy but he’d have to fall back to 1-2 mill before I’d re-sign him.
PLAY them one at a time BRAVOS.
Lew
September 1st, 2010
10:52 am
don-Of course you’re right. Players should no longer hit when they’re up by four or more runs, should they. They should just hold those hits in their bats until the runs are really needed – or maybe they could store them in The Rockies’ humidor..
. Don
September 1st, 2010
10:52 am
Fred, you miss the point. At the time, I was referring to relating to playing McLouth with Infante on the bench, Cox was playing both Mclouth and Melky full time — And Melky could have played Center — Allowing Infante to play Left – with McLouth (who was procucing next to nothing) on the bench.
Lew
September 1st, 2010
10:54 am
GlenW-It’s likely explained by the fact that it is now obvious that Hudson’s arm problems ahd been around for some time and now he’s fixed and feels much better and is able to, as a result, pitch better. AND he’s having a career year.
raleighbravefan
September 1st, 2010
10:55 am
Shaun – Enough with the BABiP for one day!
Glen W
September 1st, 2010
10:55 am
Shaun, all I am doing is encouraging you to balance what you are seeing in the stats with what you are seeing with your eyes. That’s all.
If you watch Hudson pitch, you will probably see him go 3-4 innings at a time without a single ball being hit hard. And then you’ll say to yourself… darn, he is pithcing his rear end off. What you will likely not see is opposing hitters crushing the ball 3-5 times a game only to have it hit right at a fielder.
DAP
September 1st, 2010
10:55 am
ralieghbravesfan if strike-outs are so important, why isn’t Nolan Ryan more highly reguarded?
…huh? i think he is pretty highly regarded. how highly regarded do you think he oughta be?
shaun when some of you are ready to put your fandom aside and talk big-boy analysis
oh yeah, crediting luck, thats what the big boys do.
. Don
September 1st, 2010
10:56 am
Lew, why do you twist everything around. No one is saying that players should not hit when you have a significant lead – as long as he also hits in close game, game determining situations. And I am not saying that Lee will not do this – Just that so far -with him starting to hit, most of it thus far as seemed to be in the wide margin games. Am not saying that he will also not now start hitting otherwise.
Lew
September 1st, 2010
10:57 am
don-You continually fail to understand that Omar spent much of his season filling in for inured infielders. He played considerable time at third for Chipper, SS for Yunel and then later a 2B for Martin. Now grantd you might well be conversant with Multiple Personality Disorder (and quite a few other conditions), but there’s only one Omar Infante and it’s really , really hard for him to play short and center field at the same time.
Brian from SC
September 1st, 2010
10:57 am
. Don, I think the best measure of a hitter is how well he hits. And the best measure of a team is how much they win, which the Braves have done as much as any other team in the league. Give it a freakin’ rest.
raleighbravefan
September 1st, 2010
10:58 am
Don – By your logic, we would have never stuck with Glaus long enough to find out that he could carry the team for 6-7 weeks in May and June, without which we would not be in any kind of race, except to see who could be worse this year, us or Mets. You would have given up on him after first 2 weeks of the season.
Lew
September 1st, 2010
10:58 am
don=I don’t twist ANYTHING around. I just have a different viewpoint than you do. Thank God.
Shaun
September 1st, 2010
10:59 am
Glen W, but is Hudson performing at his highest level and, if he is, does that explain a BABiP in the .240’s? The point is that his BABiP is so extremely low that it is very unlikely that we can just chalk it all up to Hudson performing at his highest level, though he may well be.
Bautista’s 50 homeruns are an anomaly but we can chalk that up to adjustments in his swing and him performing at his highest level, especially if he goes on to hit 30-50 homers in each of the next few seasons.
Brian from SC
September 1st, 2010
11:00 am
If Don had been the manager, the Braves would probably be in last place. But doggone it, they would have used 130 different lineups! And that’s what really counts!
GTSteve
September 1st, 2010
11:00 am
Humidor Humor….I like it Lew
Lew
September 1st, 2010
11:01 am
GTSteve-Well, that humidor has got to be good for something, right?
raleighbravefan
September 1st, 2010
11:02 am
DAP – Ryan is never, never included in discussions of the greatest pitchers. Some have suggested that he didn’t win enough games to be in the hall of fame. I think he deserves it based on no-hitters alone, but then, I think Roger Maris should be in without question, as well.
Glen W
September 1st, 2010
11:03 am
So Shaun, can you tell me what you see with your eyes when you watch Hudson pitch? Does you see anything that might be at least part of the explanation?
Frankie Wren
September 1st, 2010
11:04 am
Quick comment on Frenchy and I am interested on DOB’s take here. I am really happy for the guy. I really don’t understand the hatred that is spewed at the guy from people in the metro area. Yes the guy fanned out and is not the player everybody thought he was going to be. His actions weren’t the best proabably making waves about being sent down and some of his comments after he was traded. But the guy is big time competitor however you feel about him. Probably one of the greatest high school athletes as far as success this city has seen as well. I hope he goes to Texas with a understanding that he will be a contributor and not see as much action as he is used to, but like I said he is a total competitor and wants to play. Can’t fault that. The guy played everyday here and he did play hard. Yes he comes across as arrogant at times but the guy was and is extremely popular with his teammates. I was blown away at the reception he received in the dugout when he won the game here against Wags. We root for a guy like Yunel but rail on a kid like Francouer. Reality is that his career may not be lengthy, but whatever this guy does in life after baseball he will be successful.
Trey
September 1st, 2010
11:04 am
Jeez, I was reading comments on the Phillies blog and they are freaking out because they aren’t scoring a lot of runs. They act like if they go one game where they only score three runs that their team can’t hit.
Fred
September 1st, 2010
11:05 am
.Don, I agree that Melky (or Blanco) could/should have started in CF earlier this season with McLouth on the pine. But Lew also has a good point about Infante needing to sub in the infield. The bottom line is Infante needs to be in there every day and I hope he will get that chance next season. The other issue is that the Braves have lacked quality outfielders for years and they desperately need to correct that situation in the future (in CF and LF).
DAP
September 1st, 2010
11:07 am
lew Thing about DeRo is that he’s got a track record of doing what he does.
well, he does now…but when he signed with the cubs, he had two good years in texas, and before that, he played like a sub. he did not have the good track record that he has now. before the three year deal he signed with chicago, he posted an OPS over .800 once…his final year in texas. infante is about to post his first ever OPS over .800.
derosa’s career thorugh 2006 is pretty similar to infante’s career through 2010.
Glen W
September 1st, 2010
11:08 am
They act like if they go one game where they only score three runs that their team can’t hit.
I’m glad we don’t act that way!
Lew
September 1st, 2010
11:09 am
Frankie-Honestly, I find the hatred of ANY Braves somewhat incomprehensible.Must be a sign of the times.
Anyone heard from RHR lately? Don’t think I’ve seen her post recently. Hope she’s all right. We might need her to name a rookie being called up.
Shaun
September 1st, 2010
11:10 am
Glen W, I’m not denying Hudson is having a great season and is great at keeping hitters off-balance, getting lots of grounders and weak contact. There is no denying that. My argument is that he is also getting an unusually high number of outs because of his defense and because batted balls are ending up in the right spots. Why? Because no pitcher, no matter how great he is at getting weak contact, is going to get hitters out on batted balls as often as Hudson without significant help from defense and luck. If it was all about Hudson’s skills in getting weak contact, in his previous best seasons we would expect his BABiP to be closer to the .240’s. His lowest previous bests are .257 and .259. His career BABiP is .284. How do you explain the .248 BABiP by skill alone when even when he was doing his best at keeping hitters off-balance (as evident by his K rates) in previous seasons he was posting BABiP’s in the .280 range. In his top 3 strikeout seasons, his BABiP was .280; that was when he was keeping hitters off-balance the best.
Trey
September 1st, 2010
11:10 am
Glen, well at least not as bad.
Lew
September 1st, 2010
11:10 am
DAP-Maybe so, but the salary structure has changed somewhat for marginal players since then. We’ll see what happens IF Omar puts up similar numbers next year.
Shaun
September 1st, 2010
11:12 am
Glen W, yes. I see that Hudson is very good at getting grounders and weak contact. Again, no denying that. But there is no pitcher whose skills alone can get him outs as often on balls in play as Hudson this season.
Glen W
September 1st, 2010
11:13 am
Shaun, so at least part of the low BABIP can be explained by his high performance? If we agree on that I guess we will just disagree on how much of it should be attributed to his high performance.
I still don’t understand how we could try to explain and entire season of performance by luck. But we’ll just have to agree to disagree, I suppose.
Brian from SC
September 1st, 2010
11:13 am
Yeah, Philly’s got problems on offense. Utley is having a puzzling down year…his slugging percentage (.429) is 80 points lower than last year and is about the same as Alex Gonzalez’s just in his Braves tenure. Howard’s slugging just .499, 70 points lower than last year, and lower than Brooks Conrad. Rollins has a lower OPS than Melky Cabrera. Victorino’s got a .313 OBP!
Oh, by the way…Utley’s 31, Howard’s 30, and Rollins is 31. Down year or decline year?
Lew
September 1st, 2010
11:14 am
And the fact that Hudson’s BABIP is as good as it is with our defensive doldrums makes it even more amazing. Must be because he keeps the infielders awake and in the game, but that I’m afraid is an unquantifiable stat to Shaun, so it can’t be a factor, could it?
David O'Brien
September 1st, 2010
11:16 am
Trey, the Phillies scored fewer runs in August than all NL teams except the Mets, Pirates, Nats and Marlins. They scored 118 runs — 40 fewer than the Braves.
And it’s gotten much worse since the second week of the month, despite the recent return of a couple of key injured players. The Phillies have hit .206 in their past 18 games and totaled just 60 runs and 10 homers in that stretch.
In their past 13 games, they’ve hit .190. They had scored 28 runs in 12 games before getting eight runs last night.
Shaun
September 1st, 2010
11:16 am
Glen W, defense is a big part, perhaps bigger than “luck” or randomness or whatever you want to call it.
Lew, the Braves are actually slightly above average at turning batted balls into outs (defensive efficiency).
Brian from SC
September 1st, 2010
11:17 am
And that Domonic Brown kid has been terrible this year. The Phillies’ starting pitching will get them to the wild card, IMO. But their team is getting old. Their best player, Werth, is long gone next year. And the rest of their big boppers are all on the downslopes of their careers.
Duder
September 1st, 2010
11:19 am
Suggest renaming BABIP to BLAHBLEEP
Lew
September 1st, 2010
11:19 am
Brian-Utley has now had two quite serious injuries a bit more than a year apart from each other. He also came back way to fast on that hip injury last year. It’s why I’ve been claiming their injury free teams were at an end. Not surpirsing he’s struggled. Same with Rollins. Those chronic leg difficulties have come home to roost and maybe Howard should not have returned from his ankle injury, when it’s retty obvious that he isn’t close to 100%.
All of this was/is inevitablke. Phillies’ fans just can’t understand it. I even had one ragging on me at the grocery last night when he saw my Braves’ shirt. He tried convincing me the Braves would pull a “Mets” and the Phillies would win.
To me this is pretty screwed up when your entire winning philosophy is built on lets’ win when the other team tanks mentality.
Greg Tallant
September 1st, 2010
11:19 am
I’m rooting for Hudson, but you didn’t mention innings pitched, which Greg Maddux mentioned was the most important stat of all. Halladay is blowing everybody away.
Glen W
September 1st, 2010
11:21 am
Yeah the Phillies are falling apart. I’m not worried about them being a really competitive team over the next 3-5 years. They have so many holes on that roster and Utley and Rollins seem to struggle to stay healthy, the bullpen stinks, etc.
David O'Brien
September 1st, 2010
11:21 am
Shaun: Regarding Hudson, you can rest assured that I’ve never heard one Cy Young voter — the award is determined by BBWAA members — ever so much as mention BABiP in any conversation. Not just in any conversation regarding how he’s voting on awards (we talk about that stuff a lot this time of year; I had a New York writer who’s voting for MVP come over during the game last night and ask my opinion on which Brave or Braves he should have in his top 10) but any coversation about baseball, period. Ever. Not once.
Maybe there are one or two writers out there who’ll consider it for the Cy Young ballot, but I’m sure not aware of them. Every writer I know considers ERA, WHIP, wins, strikeouts/walks, and most also consider run support, bullpen strength (blown wins, etc). But not BABiP. Never.
Brian from SC
September 1st, 2010
11:21 am
A 36-year old Ryan Howard will be making 25 million dollars in 2016…good luck, Phillies. He will be merely an average hitter by 2013, and then…
Glen W
September 1st, 2010
11:22 am
Shaun, the Braves are not an exceptional defensive team… so I am still going to throw a little cred Hudson’s way. Why do you hate the guy?
Lew
September 1st, 2010
11:23 am
Shaun-If the Braves are above average and have made all those errors anyway (like next to last in the league), then it’s proof postive that the stats can lie. Watch the games and cuss out the little league play with the rest of us and forget the stats.
Average my fat behind. The defense has stunk a good bit of the time. I’m a Homer and can still see that.
Lew
September 1st, 2010
11:24 am
GlenW-You’re trying to argue with a guy who went on a four day rant about how Ryan Howard’s 50 something HR season wasn’t exceptional and not worthy of him winning the MVP.
Glen W
September 1st, 2010
11:25 am
Lew – I’m winding down my side of the “argument”.
timthebrave
September 1st, 2010
11:26 am
Shaun, Why throw out all your stats and then say it is luck. If a guy has arm surgery and is feeling better can he not pitch better. Can he not get more late downward movement causing WEAK hit grounders giving him a low BABIP. Will he produce around a .250 BAPIP again. I wouldn’t bet against it.
David O'Brien
September 1st, 2010
11:29 am
This is why I miss Adam LaRoche. Check out the hilarious prank he pulled on Kelly Johnson (and Kelly’s reaction shows why I miss that dude, too; both of them are great guys). Anyway, check this out. It’s an all-timer: http://deadspin.com/5627396/
Brian from SC
September 1st, 2010
11:29 am
Howard certainly had a great year in 2006, but I would have voted for Pujols to win the MVP.
Lew
September 1st, 2010
11:29 am
GlenW-Dude, you’ll be happy you did. You just can’t win. Resistance is Futile. Leave now and the Borg may not add you to his collective.
Still trying to figure out what Shaun’s Fandom is (or who it might be).
Lew
September 1st, 2010
11:31 am
Brian_maybe so, but I bet you wouldn’t have argued Howard’s performance was not exceptional, just that Pujols was more deserving.
Glen W
September 1st, 2010
11:33 am
DOB, that made my day! Thanks for sharing that one!!
David O'Brien
September 1st, 2010
11:34 am
One other thing about Hudson: Everywhere we go, scouts, opposing teams and TV analysts have all raved about Hudson’s stuff this year, how he’s got tremendous sink on his pitches, is keeping everything below the thighs, and how he looks better than he ever did, even in his Oakland years. That’s not writers, that’s people in the game. He’s created quite a buzz with how strong he’s come back in his mid-30s after TJ surgery.
Lew
September 1st, 2010
11:35 am
Well Y’all, My BABIP is beginning to fluctuate so maybe I’d better go eat something and then listen to some of the new Jon Oliva’s Pain (ex Savatage and Trans Siberian Orchesta) and some Coheed and Camria while working on artwork and stimulating the leg bone. Later.
Glen W
September 1st, 2010
11:36 am
Have a good one, Lew.
Brian from SC
September 1st, 2010
11:36 am
Just watched the video of Aroldis Chapman’s debut last night. Kid touched 103 on the gun. Dang, that’s filthy. He’s not as polished as Strasburg, but from the left side out of the pen? Untouchable. We’ll see how he does as a member of the Reds’ rotation next year.
Me
September 1st, 2010
11:37 am
what’s the latest on D.Lowe elbow?
timthebrave
September 1st, 2010
11:37 am
If you want to talk career years he has had several years with low batting average against. Sub 3.00 era…Low WHIP..Compare 2003 to 2010
2003 2010
ERA 2.70 2.24
BAA .223 .220
WHIP 1.08 1.09
K 162 109
wins 16 15
We can say that he is having a really great year but I wouldn’t say that it would be out of the norm for him. Or I can say that he has a low BAPIP based on defense(really?) or luck (why use stats if you are going to say luck. Was it luck that Ted Williams batter over .400. I mean he did have several bloop singles. I prefer to say that the player’s skill has a lot to do with being “lucky”
. Don
September 1st, 2010
11:39 am
Lew, your post at 10:57 is not factual. If Infante spent most of his time during the first part of the season subbing for infielders and was not on the bench most of the time, then WHY does he have only about 360 plate appearances??? True, part of his time was required to sub when an infielder was out; but for the remainder of the time (all the time he was on the bench) he should have been in the outfield instead of McLouth – instead of being on the bench. (At that time both McLouth and Melky were in the outfield full time, and Melky could have played Center with Infante in Left.) During this first part of the seasson, Infante spend most of his time on the bench as evidenced by his having about 360 plate appearances; whereas he would have more than 500 if he had been playig full time.
David O'Brien
September 1st, 2010
11:39 am
ME: There’s a separate story on it. just click on the link in upper right side of this page
Glen W
September 1st, 2010
11:41 am
Brian SC, I’ll be shocked if Chapman can do that in 30+ starts next year. I thik its crazy to project him to be in your rotation for a full season. But given what they paid to get him, I guess they feel like they have to give it a try.
timthebrave
September 1st, 2010
11:41 am
Tim Hudson also had many great years that are similar statistically with this year while pitching in the juiced up american league
Me
September 1st, 2010
11:42 am
Thanks DOB. I swear I looked…
Anders
September 1st, 2010
11:45 am
What’s up Braves fans? Well now you know why those two seasons the Mets collapsed didn’t bother as much as many on here thought it should have. I’d sure take those seasons again over this deplorable effort my boys have been putting forth of late. It feels like the Vince Coleman/Bobby Bonilla years all over again.
Your guys are hanging in there – got to give them credit. I’ll still be suprised if the Phils don’t have a run left in them for the division title but time is running out and they may just settle in for the WC.
BTW- I told you guys Frenchy sucked. {:
Brian from SC
September 1st, 2010
11:46 am
Well, Glen…you can bet he won’t be throwing 103 as a stater. He’ll probably sit in the 97-98 range. Obviously still elite. Out of the pen, though, he can really let if fly. It’s great stuff from a fan’s perspective.
And yes, the Reds will probably ease him in somehow, a la Joba perhaps? Hopefully not, because the Yankees seem to have messed him up.
Hillbilly
September 1st, 2010
11:47 am
ARODYS VIZCAINO (2.30 ERA) goes 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R/ER, 0 BB, 1 SO. Why he was pulled after one I was unable to ascertain.
I saw that and figured they were just being careful with him in his first game back from injury. But you know more about the minor league system than I do, so maybe I’m wrong.
DAP
September 1st, 2010
11:47 am
shaun basically we’d expect Hudson’s BABiP to be in the .280 range as that his his career BABiP. That’s lower than the typical .290-.300 range for most pitchers.
what is hudson’s career groundball percentage? looking at his stats, it looks like his standard GB/FB ratio was at around 1.50. this year its at 1.86…thats a pretty good spike.
all contact is not created equal, which is something your babip stat doesnt account for.
raleighbravesfan Ryan is never, never included in discussions of the greatest pitchers. Some have suggested that he didn’t win enough games to be in the hall of fame.
i think it depends on what people are talking about, dont you? rickey henderson is never mentioned as one of the great hitters, but start talking about stolen bases, and hes the guy you reference. same thing with ryan, i think.
and who have you heard say the 324 wins isnt enough to get into the hall of fame?
Brian from SC
September 1st, 2010
11:48 am
A few weeks ago, I was one of the ones saying “well, the Phillies will make a run at it, they’re just too good.” But I’ve changed my mind…look at the numbers. I don’t think they’re better than us, and I don’t think that they will catch us at any point in September..
timthebrave
September 1st, 2010
11:48 am
Anders, I saw you throwing a coke bottle at Frenchy on Mondays game. Your plan worked to get him traded.
Lew
September 1st, 2010
11:51 am
don-Infante played in 3/4 of the team’s games prior to subbing full time for Prado – that is a cold, hard, undeniable fact. Most of that was playing for Chipper and Yunel when they went down to various injuries (or in Yunel’s case a pissed off manager benching him a few games in addition to his groin injury). Sorry you can’t seem to understand this, but NO ML Manager is going to go against their original game plan in April, just because players start off slowly, no matter whether or not you think it should be otherwise. It just isn’t done by anyone other than Fantasy Baseball Players.
Yeah McLouth sucked – if you paid attention to anyone, you MIGHT have heard this coming from me once or twice (remember my unfortuNATE comments?), but even so, a piss poor Spring Training and a month of futiltity will – most times in MLB – not result in a player, scheduled to make a guaranteed $10 mil over the next couple years, being benched or sent to the minors after such a short time.
MY suggestion to you is that if you’re really that hing up on how Bobby runs HIS team, that maybe you try to get some unsuspecting moron to let you join a Yahoo Fantasy League next year. Then YOU can put in whoever pleases you – whether or not it makes any sense in the real world.
Brian from SC
September 1st, 2010
11:51 am
I do think the Braves will lose 2 out of 3 to the Phillies in that last series of the year, but I think it will be because the Braves go into it with a 5 or 6 game lead.
haggardeeee
September 1st, 2010
11:51 am
Lew
RHR posted briefly a night or so ago. She’s about a week into the beginning of classes in the new position, seems to like the lay of things, and sounds pretty busy.
Travis
September 1st, 2010
11:52 am
Anders…You can still come over from the dark side and be a Braves fan. Very disappointing year for Mets fans.
Lew
September 1st, 2010
11:55 am
haggard-Thanks. I don’t usually read ALL of the overnights and could easily have missed it among all the usual lunacy that seems to Only Come Out at Night (except at game time). Just can’t resist those gratuitous music references here in DOBLand.
PDOG
September 1st, 2010
11:56 am
ESPN is reporting that Lowe has taken a cortisone shot in his right elbow, that it has been bothering him for over a month.
Anders
September 1st, 2010
11:56 am
Travis- Thanks for the offer but it’s never gonna happen. I have noticed there would be plenty of room for me to attend their home games though – suprising for a 1st place team in the stretch run imo.
Brian from SC
September 1st, 2010
11:59 am
Anders, most probably stay away so they don’t subject their families to Mets baseball.
PDOG
September 1st, 2010
12:00 pm
DOB, just saw the video of KJ coming to bat, funny
Bravefaninok
September 1st, 2010
12:00 pm
BTW- I told you guys Frenchy sucked. {:
I am shocked HoJo has not been named manager after the way he fixed ole frenchys swing!
haggardeeee
September 1st, 2010
12:02 pm
Lew
“could easily have missed it among all the usual lunacy that seems to Only Come Out at Night (except at game time). ”
Sometimes I look back and wonder how regular, deep, REM sleep could have seemed so important before I started participating in late-night / early morning blog sessions. And to think I, at one time, thought the DOB blog was just a glorified version of The Vent.
Duder
September 1st, 2010
12:03 pm
suprising for a 1st place team in the stretch run imo.
——-
Not so surprising when the quality of the current opponent is considered.
ncscoots
September 1st, 2010
12:04 pm
ARODYS VIZCAINO (2.30 ERA) goes 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R/ER, 0 BB, 1 SO. Why he was pulled after one I was unable to ascertain.
I’m a little surprised that they had him pitch at all, with such a short time left in their season, and all. I’d think they could tell how the rehab hss gone, in his side sessions. But maybe not; might have wanted to see him at game speed, I guess. Seems odd, though.
timthebrave
September 1st, 2010
12:05 pm
Anders, I went to the game against the Mets where we won in bottom of 9th. At the time it moved the Braves up from last place and put the Mets in last place. At the time I thought that the Mets would be battling the Phils and Braves for a playoff spot. It’s got to be tough to be a Mets fan this year. You could still go root on your Mets at Turner field. You might want to wear a bag over your face and your attendance might just help our payroll. Go Braves
Brian from SC
September 1st, 2010
12:05 pm
True, the Mets now draw crowds at Turner Field like the Nationals, Marlins, and Pirates. Congrats.
haggardeeee
September 1st, 2010
12:05 pm
DOB
I used to think players merely gave “their” songs a cursory listen at best due to the fact they were “so deep” into thinking about their at bat. But Johnson immediately has a “come on, man” expression. That’s great.
Hillbilly
September 1st, 2010
12:05 pm
Duder 12:03,
Yeah, I noticed similar crowds when the Nationals were in town on a school night. The ol’ Mets rivalry just ain’t what it used to be, huh?
TRADE
September 1st, 2010
12:06 pm
Out of curiousity, what is the ML record for best home record? Just wondering if the Braves have a chance to match or beat it.