2014 World Series thread

[LongTimeListener]

Their positioning, shift data and such are great.

Guys getting to balls when that data doesn't work perfectly, not so much.

And they had a catcher who throws out 15 percent of runners trying to stop the running game of the best base-stealing team in the league. I know he was a sub in that game, but he is usually a starter, and a lot of teams wouldn't have a catcher on the roster anyway who couldn't throw anybody out.

 

[RickStain]

Their positioning, shift data and such are great.

Guys getting to balls when that data doesn't work perfectly, not so much.

So outs don't count for as much when you get to them one way. You have to get to them the right way or you're bad at defense?

 

[LongTimeListener]

Their positioning, shift data and such are great.

Guys getting to balls when that data doesn't work perfectly, not so much.

So outs don't count for as much when you get to them one way. You have to get to them the right way or you're bad at defense?

Over the long season is different from a playoff game.

The A's had a chance to set a 25-man roster for the playoff game against the Royals. One priority should have been "under no circumstances does Derek Norris get behind the plate." Conceding a stolen base here or there during the season isn't costly, but seven in a playoff game sure is.

And Hosmer's flyball to left-center in the 12th -- does Gordon or Cain catch that? Maybe. Do Gordon and Cain fall all over each other as Gomes and Fuld did, allowing Hosmer to take third base with one out? Definitely not.

Those kinds of plays are characteristic of all of the A's playoff appearances.

 

[RickStain]

The only thing characteristic here is you trying to set up a narrative that isn't supported by facts.

Somebody you will accept that baseball is far more complex than the stories you come up with.

 

[LongTimeListener]

No, I know it's complex.

I also know the A's are very satisfied with their defensive numbers even as they fail at defense in every postseason.

It's amusing.

 

[RickStain]

Tell me more about how the A's are terrible at defense and how Bochy always pulls that guy at 5 innings and 90 pitches and all the other stuff you come up with.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Ah, it's not worth it.

Let's just all enjoy the positive variance that is known as the San Francisco Giants and mourn the negative variance that is known as the Oakland A's. Who can say why these things happen?

 

[RickStain]

Didn't you used to insist that the early 2000s A's offenses didn't work in the playoffs and that was why they lost, only to find out they actually scored more runs per game in those series than in the regular season?

You know who the best defensive team in the National League was, by both outs/BIP and more advanced measures (and I think the scouting would back this up)? The Cincinnati Reds. I wonder why they aren't representing the National League.

The 2012 Giants were 13th in the league at converting balls in play into outs. But they probably had super-special playoff defense that only worked in the playoffs.

 

[RickStain]

Wait, I missed the one where Sam Fuld is bad at defense and he fell over in the outfield because the A's don't respect defense.

 

[LongTimeListener]

That might be true -- they have replaced Morse, Pagan, Posey (lot of 1B), Susac/Sanchez (lot of C) and second-baseman-of-the-day with Ishikawa, Blanco, Belt, Posey back at full-time C, and Panik. Pretty big upgrades across the board.

There does remain the chance that defensive statistics are not as reliable as hoped, as well as the chance that they reflect pre-pitch positioning more than skill on the part of the defender.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Wait, I missed the one where Sam Fuld is bad at defense and he fell over in the outfield because the A's don't respect defense.

He fell because Gomes ran into him.

Gomes is bad at defense.

Anyway, to the World Series.

 

[Dick Whitman]

There does remain the chance that defensive statistics are not as reliable as hoped, as well as the chance that they reflect pre-pitch positioning more than skill on the part of the defender.

Isn't the latter just half a dozen of one and six of the other, though?