2013 MLB Regular Season running thread

Melvin?

 

Since it wasn't a walkoff hit or walk, I want to know, did they win it on a walkoff run-off, a walkoff pitch-off, a walkoff wild-off, or some other term?

 

Well, recall I said, "one of the best", not "the best" or "in the top 5." However, I guess it would have been better to say: One of the better hitters in baseball. I'll try to change my posts in the future to be less inaccurate.

NL rankings amoung qualified batters.

OPS+ 19th/62
HR 16th/62
oWAR 21st/62

So solidly in the top one-third.

Now here is that guy:

Code:

            PA     HR    BA   ISO   OPS+
Minors     1,505   19   .278  .117  
MLB 7-11   1,678   25   .243  .114    73
2012-13    1,029   42   .271  .213   114

Stats are above. I don't know what 500-plus PA in a season has to do with it unless you mean that he hit poorly because he didn't get to hit often enough. But he actually averaged almost 400 PA a year for 8 years, so he really did have lots of PAs. He was below replacement level for 3,183 PA over a span of 8 years and then suddenly the singles hitter becomes a .213 ISO hitter? Amazing. Reminds me of Sosa, Palmiero, and Melky.

Here is his career ranking in OPS+ compared to those with qualified PA

2007 76th/76
2008 69th/74
2009 77th/78
2010 71st/75
2011 62nd/67

He averaged out 71st out of 74. Almost literally the worst offensive performance every year for 5 years.

Yea, I'm not predicting that guy with those stats and 1 HR in 70 AB in the minors is going to be 19th in OPS+ by 2013. I can't say anything about what the guy was told. Was he told from 2004-11 to not hit homers?

Maybe Sosa should say he was told from 1986-92: don't hit homers.

Sorry it took so long to get back to you...I was out of town.

 

None of that comes anywhere close to being evidence of PED use. Just more of the same sloppy bullshit that passes for a discussion of PED use around here.

The line about averaging almost 400 plate appearances is a good example of the flaws in your argument. That analysis is, at best, lazy and sloppy. Gomez was rushed to the majors at 21 years of age. Then in his second season, he had 614 plate appearances, which badly skews the numbers.

The next three seasons, he had 349, 318 and 258 plate appearances, so he was not getting regular playing time. You've got a young player who was pushed to the bigs before he was ready and now he's trying to work out his issues as a part-time player.

Also, you claimed that he averaged nearly 400 plate appearances for eight years. I assume you meant that's how long he did that before he started to produce. One problem there. Gomez is just now in his seventh season in the major leagues and he started to emerge as a quality hitter in 2012, not just this season. Either that, or you are lumping minor league stats in with major league, which has its own problems.

In fact, his progress has been pretty steady the last three seasons, his age 25, 26 and 27 seasons.

Some hitters take time to grow into their power and anybody who thinks that is always a sign of PED use simply doesn't know anything about the game. Gomez improved as a hitter and the power came along with everything else.

The threshold of evidence should be so much higher than this, but instead we continue to be subjected to sloppy garbage like what you keep posting.

 

Awesome way to do it, but totally impractical today.

Interesting that the American League has only ever used the one-game playoff.

 

Moderately annoyed that there are still no times for Division Series games.

 

Pretty damn silly to have a sub-playoff to determine who is going to be in the one-game playoff. Truthfully, no need for a one-game wild-card playoff. You've had six months and 162 games to figure out who the best teams are.

That's not good enough? Now you have to have a one-game deal to potentially invalidate what took you 162 games to produce? Brilliant, boys, brilliant.

 

Kind of disappointed I don't have an excuse to play hooky and watch some daytime baseball. 8 p.m. EDT.

 

That's because there are no Yankees to ink in for prime time.

 

Still, you'd think the Red Sox would automatically be in the 8 p.m. EDT window, although I guess with two West Coast teams involved in the Dodgers and Athletics, that factors in.

But if Texas emerges from the AL Wild-card scrum, Red Sox-Rangers will be the prime time game every day of that series.

 

Wouldn't be surprised if at least one of the first two Sox games were in the 4 p.m slot. LA's a mighty big market, too.