MLB 2018 regular season thread

But the .350 wOBA guy would almost certainly drive in far more than 110 runs given the same opportunities as the .300 wOBA guy.

Last year, D.J. LeMahieu had a .350 wOBA and 64 RBIs. He had a .299 batting average and .758 OPS with RISP.

Brandon Crawford had a .300 wOBA and 77 RBIs. He had a .270 batting average and a .712 OPS with RISP.

Hitters aren’t good at driving in runs, independent of the fact that they are just good at hitting. Brandon Crawford drove in more runs than D.J. LeMahieu last year. But he wasn’t better at driving in runs than D.J. LeMahieu.

 

But that's not part of the question, or the equation.

Which is why I said you should have chosen a number like 85 RBIs instead of 110.

85 RBIs v. 70 is a little more negligible and makes all y'all's argument stronger.

110 RBIs v. 70 RBIs is almost impossible to bypass.

(If I don't respond for awhile, I'll be on the elliptical. See you at 9.)

 

It is almost certainly just a function of more opportunities.

 

Indeed.

 

Opportunities TAKEN.

And this isn't a philosophical discussion either though we can discuss it on philosophical terms.

I'm sticking to the original question and I'll take a 110-RBI guy over a 70-RBI guy almost every day of the week.

... if those are the last 2 players to choose from.

(NOW I'll see you at 9.)

 

And the evidence ... the science ... is pretty clear in telling you that you’ll wind up with substantially fewer runs scored as a result.

 

Alright, now you’re up in my grill.

Brandon Crawford’s splits last year:

With RISP .270/.304/.412
With bases empty .222/.280/.364

Brandon Crawford’s career splits (we’re talking seven years now):

With RISP .257/.338/.407
With bases empty .229/.293/.367

LeMahieu on the other hand hits no better or worse in one situation than the other.

 

After taking a deeper look at this, Brandon Crawford is astonishingly mediocre and the floor for getting an All-Star nod or appearing on an MVP ballot is quite low.

 

RBI factor? How about run scoring factor? Get me guys who score. You seem to be ignoring the real central stat here.

(F'real, this is masterful trolling. Hat tip to you. I've often wondered why no one popularized a stat that was just percentage of runners driven in. It's a tiny hop ahead of RBI. It seems like it would normalize for quality of hitters in front of someone. Baseball's got every goddamn stat imaginable, and as much as folks hold fast to RISP splits and RBI, it seems like it would tell about as much. Then again, it's hard to get folks to understand rebound percentage in basketball)

 

Interesting you say that.

Advice: A lot of players moving to new teams have had difficulty in their new surroundings, but don't lop Gordon into that group. Gordon has hit safely in all 12 of his games since landing in the Pacific Northwest, hitting .346 (18-for-52) with seven stolen bases. While the hitting streak is nice, he has posted just two extra-base hits. (Rotoworld.com)

Here we have one of the best run scorers: Dee Gordon.

Look how he's gotten on base this season hits-wise: 16 of the 18 hits are singles. He has walked once in 51 PA's.

Yes, he steals lots of bases (7 so far this season, 60 last season) and that gets him into scoring position often.

But unless he steals second and third and scores on a WP or PB or balk, it's a batter who's driving him in.

 

Reminds me of the classic Ichiro game I saw in Seattle in 2004. Went four for four with four singles. Stole second four times. Scored no runs.
Players who're better batters with men on than with the bases empty are rare. Most guys hit what they hit. But they do exist and they have added value because of it.

 

This thread is terrible.