MLB Thread Number 3, 2007

Once Wang gave up that bomb, the real story of the M's/Yankees game was two depleted pitching squads being given a break. I'll bet Hargrove was thrilled to get 5 and a third out of Weaver, and Torre smiled for the first time in weeks.

M's have 18 more games before they get to a day off.

Hard to believe that's Wang's first win, the way he pitched. How do you come back that dramatically? Maybe it's easier to have a good outing under those circumstances if you depend on a sinker. Best sinker-ball pitcher I've seen in a while.

 

Wang's last start was Sunday at the Stadium against the Red Sox. Torre said that Wang had a blister or a cracked fingernail and that the sinker wasn't sinking. In the first, Ortiz turned on a Wang pitch and deposited it somewhere in Westchester. Now, does Ortiz homer off of many pitchers? Sure. But if the sinker is thigh high with no movement, major league hitters are going to slap it around the park.

 

THANK YOU! FINALLY SOMEONE USES THEIR BRAIN!

The mythology of walks is one of the most annoying things about sabermetrics — and I generally don't mind sabermetrics.

Base hit > base on balls.

 

Yeah putting Rollins fifth will cost him some at bats, but you need a guy with some pop in the five-hole and Rowand (who I still think they should explore trading for bullpen help and let Bourn play) gets hurt too much and doesn't hit enough homers to bat there.

Utley is a great three-hole guy. Power, average and speed and he's tough as hell. You couldn't put Utley fifth b/c if you have two guys on base you don't want to give a manager the choice to go lefty on Howard and Utley. I like Utley in the middle not at 2.

That's why I say Rollins fifth. He's a switch-hitter that can hit with power from both sides. Never thought I'd be saying that.

 

And if you can't run what's the use of being on base. Burrell can't score from second on a single or from first on a double. He's an absolute waste.

 

Well, Burrell just scored from 2nd on a single about an hour ago. And has done so several times this year already. But other than that, you're spot on.

Speed on the basepaths, once a ball is in play, is WILDLY overrated. Unless you've got Reyes-like speed, there's not much difference between "slow" guys and average guys.

 

And base on balls > making an out

I'm still trying to figure out how being 7th in the NL in on-base percentage is a bad thing. Aside from the fact that the guys hitting behind him suck ass. Which is now his fault, I suppose.

 

A single is moderately better than a walk, in the sense that it allows runners on base to possibly advance more than one base. It also allows a guy on 2nd or 3rd to advance, where a walk would not.

But, FH, I'm with you in that I'm struggling to wrap my mind around the idea of walks being a bad thing.

 

It's not.

But you can't isolate that one stat and say that Burrell is doing a good job at the plate. He's not.

THAT's the problem with anyone (sabermetric or otherwise) who only looks at numbers without context. On this, spnited and I completely agree.

 

Agreed.

Base hit = base on balls. And XBH > base on balls.

They're not asking Burrell to be a singles hitter, mustard. Just because he's 7th in OBP does not mean he's doing his job.

And yeah, other players aren't doing their jobs, either. Which is why his OBP isn't having much of an impact.