Comments on: Grading the hitters’ first half http://www.blueandorange.net/?p=701 Hoping for a Miracle since 2005 Mon, 30 Jan 2012 03:54:03 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Chris Wilcox http://www.blueandorange.net/?p=701&cpage=1#comment-485802 Chris Wilcox Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:51:20 +0000 http://www.blueandorange.net/?p=701#comment-485802 Joe, you're a teacher, should I grade Santos on a curve just because I had no expectations from him? He hasn't been that good, the only things he's done well is hit for more XBHs than one might expect, and the Papelbon homer. A .301 OBP is frighteningly bad, even for a catcher, and he's not a good defender.  On what fucking planet has Omir Santos been a better player than David Wright this year?  If Santos warrants a B, Wright would warrant an A+++ and Carlos Beltran would warrant the first-ever letter grade higher than A ever awarded. I'm done arguing about Wright. He's doing his job, which is to get on base. He's even hitting "in the clutch," hitting .343 with a .420 OBP with runners in scoring position this year. The problem has been the slugging, and I'm confident that's going to make a second half comeback, and his defense, which is more alarming to me. If you want to invent reasons why David Wright isn't playing well, continue to do so, but to give Wright anything lower than a B grade would have been ignoring how great he is at getting on base and how he has come through "in the clutch." That "runs generated" nonsense is completely reliant on having good players hitting both in front of and behind him, and since Beltran went down, Wright has been literally the only good hitter on this team. Joe, you’re a teacher, should I grade Santos on a curve just because I had no expectations from him? He hasn’t been that good, the only things he’s done well is hit for more XBHs than one might expect, and the Papelbon homer. A .301 OBP is frighteningly bad, even for a catcher, and he’s not a good defender.  On what fucking planet has Omir Santos been a better player than David Wright this year?  If Santos warrants a B, Wright would warrant an A+++ and Carlos Beltran would warrant the first-ever letter grade higher than A ever awarded.

I’m done arguing about Wright. He’s doing his job, which is to get on base. He’s even hitting “in the clutch,” hitting .343 with a .420 OBP with runners in scoring position this year. The problem has been the slugging, and I’m confident that’s going to make a second half comeback, and his defense, which is more alarming to me. If you want to invent reasons why David Wright isn’t playing well, continue to do so, but to give Wright anything lower than a B grade would have been ignoring how great he is at getting on base and how he has come through “in the clutch.” That “runs generated” nonsense is completely reliant on having good players hitting both in front of and behind him, and since Beltran went down, Wright has been literally the only good hitter on this team.

]]> By: Joeadig http://www.blueandorange.net/?p=701&cpage=1#comment-485789 Joeadig Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:37:51 +0000 http://www.blueandorange.net/?p=701#comment-485789 Cox, Give it up. Kish wins. As for Santos, are you that blind??? Santos is a fill-in player and he's been awesome--- IN THAT ROLE. If he were a $10 million per year superstar putting up the numbers he has, then you can give him a poor grade. But he's a career journeyman whom we expected absolutely nothing from. The only excuse for giving him a C is that your finger slipped on the keyboard. Cox, Give it up. Kish wins.

As for Santos, are you that blind??? Santos is a fill-in player and he’s been awesome— IN THAT ROLE. If he were a $10 million per year superstar putting up the numbers he has, then you can give him a poor grade. But he’s a career journeyman whom we expected absolutely nothing from. The only excuse for giving him a C is that your finger slipped on the keyboard.

]]> By: tjv101 http://www.blueandorange.net/?p=701&cpage=1#comment-485788 tjv101 Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:33:12 +0000 http://www.blueandorange.net/?p=701#comment-485788 Wright's OBP is fantastic, but an A- for that? Did his 5 HR's factor in your grading? How bout his 87 K's? If your grade of an A- stood for Alarming then I'd agree with you. His other numbers are right on par (doubles, hits, walks) but let's be serious here. He's not having a good season. I would give Wright a B- to a C range but that's it. Your being a wishful thinker believing he can hit 20 HR's this year. Wright’s OBP is fantastic, but an A- for that? Did his 5 HR’s factor in your grading? How bout his 87 K’s? If your grade of an A- stood for Alarming then I’d agree with you. His other numbers are right on par (doubles, hits, walks) but let’s be serious here. He’s not having a good season. I would give Wright a B- to a C range but that’s it. Your being a wishful thinker believing he can hit 20 HR’s this year.

]]> By: Chris Wilcox http://www.blueandorange.net/?p=701&cpage=1#comment-485779 Chris Wilcox Wed, 15 Jul 2009 23:55:47 +0000 http://www.blueandorange.net/?p=701#comment-485779 "Runs generated" doesn't mean anything. As I've discussed before, the runs scored and RBI stats are horribly flawed and are determined by two factors: a runner behind you to drive you in for runs, and runners on base ahead of you for you to drive in. We can all agree that the Mets offense for much of this year has been a disaster, right? Look at my grades; only Beltran and Wright warranted A's, and only Castillo, Reyes, Delgado, and Sheffield rated as B's, and three of those six guys have been hurt all season. If the batters ahead of David Wright aren't getting on base, he can't drive them in, right? And if the batters behind David Wright aren't very good, they aren't going to drive him in very often if he's not on base, right? David Wright is 8th in the National League in on-base percentage. Carlos Beltran is fourth. When it comes to not making outs (and...say it with me..."not making outs is the most important thing a player can do at the plate") David Wright and Carlos Beltran are among the top eight players in the National League. That's why they get A's. “Runs generated” doesn’t mean anything. As I’ve discussed before, the runs scored and RBI stats are horribly flawed and are determined by two factors: a runner behind you to drive you in for runs, and runners on base ahead of you for you to drive in. We can all agree that the Mets offense for much of this year has been a disaster, right? Look at my grades; only Beltran and Wright warranted A’s, and only Castillo, Reyes, Delgado, and Sheffield rated as B’s, and three of those six guys have been hurt all season. If the batters ahead of David Wright aren’t getting on base, he can’t drive them in, right? And if the batters behind David Wright aren’t very good, they aren’t going to drive him in very often if he’s not on base, right?

David Wright is 8th in the National League in on-base percentage. Carlos Beltran is fourth. When it comes to not making outs (and…say it with me…”not making outs is the most important thing a player can do at the plate”) David Wright and Carlos Beltran are among the top eight players in the National League. That’s why they get A’s.

]]> By: tynian16 http://www.blueandorange.net/?p=701&cpage=1#comment-485773 tynian16 Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:15:26 +0000 http://www.blueandorange.net/?p=701#comment-485773 So I'm obviously not into the Mets and think their season has been a ton of fun so far but I just wanted to chime in with a simple analysis on David Wright. A baseball team wins games by scoring more runs than the other team and a player of Wright's supposed caliber should be one of the main generators of runs for his team. Using a simple calculation of runs scored (the only time that OBP matters is if you end up scoring) plus RBI's, shows that there are 46 players in baseball who have generated more runs than Wright. Albert Pujols leads with 160 and Wright has 100. There are five Phillies ahead of Wright including that Victorino guy you all seem to hate. Wright does lead the Mets in that category which I guess speaks to a bigger problem. David Ortiz and A-Rod each have 85 and one of them was a dead body for half the season and the other missed 1/3 of the season. While Wright's numbers sort of look ok, I think he has had a very disappointing season. So I’m obviously not into the Mets and think their season has been a ton of fun so far but I just wanted to chime in with a simple analysis on David Wright. A baseball team wins games by scoring more runs than the other team and a player of Wright’s supposed caliber should be one of the main generators of runs for his team. Using a simple calculation of runs scored (the only time that OBP matters is if you end up scoring) plus RBI’s, shows that there are 46 players in baseball who have generated more runs than Wright. Albert Pujols leads with 160 and Wright has 100. There are five Phillies ahead of Wright including that Victorino guy you all seem to hate. Wright does lead the Mets in that category which I guess speaks to a bigger problem. David Ortiz and A-Rod each have 85 and one of them was a dead body for half the season and the other missed 1/3 of the season. While Wright’s numbers sort of look ok, I think he has had a very disappointing season.

]]> By: Chris Wilcox http://www.blueandorange.net/?p=701&cpage=1#comment-485768 Chris Wilcox Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:34:03 +0000 http://www.blueandorange.net/?p=701#comment-485768 Santos' OBP: .301 Wright's OBP: .410 If I'm being too easy on Wright and too harsh on Santos, and Wright gets on base 11% more than Santos, and getting on base and not making outs is the most important thing a baseball player can do on the most basic of levels...I mean, that is a significant difference. Omir Santos is not a good baseball player, and David Wright is. There is legitimate value to getting on base at an over .400 clip that I think Travis and Joe do not appreciate. Santos’ OBP: .301
Wright’s OBP: .410

If I’m being too easy on Wright and too harsh on Santos, and Wright gets on base 11% more than Santos, and getting on base and not making outs is the most important thing a baseball player can do on the most basic of levels…I mean, that is a significant difference. Omir Santos is not a good baseball player, and David Wright is. There is legitimate value to getting on base at an over .400 clip that I think Travis and Joe do not appreciate.

]]> By: tjv101 http://www.blueandorange.net/?p=701&cpage=1#comment-485766 tjv101 Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:17:55 +0000 http://www.blueandorange.net/?p=701#comment-485766 Wright isn't having a good season. His average before his slump was impressive but his 5 HR's and 44 RBI's and 87k's aren't. How do you go from hitting 25 HR's in 4 straight seasons to this? His power numbers are awful. What is impressive his OBP (which usually hovers around .400 anyway) and steals this year (20). To give David Wright an A- is almost absurd as doing a paper for a college class with fake interviews as the class was being started an A- too or saying the Raul Ibanez deal was a bad signing. Also, I find it hard to believe you can give anyone that's been hurt for an extended period of time a grade such as Reyes, Delgado, and Beltran. Plus, your being harsh on Santos. The Mets haven't had a productive catcher since #31 so what do you really expect anyway. At least with Santos, you know you can play him game in and game out and he will hit the ball and not get hurt unlike Castro who when playing every day breaks down. I like Santos and he has come up with a few big hits this year to help win games so I wouldn't knock him too much. Wright isn’t having a good season. His average before his slump was impressive but his 5 HR’s and 44 RBI’s and 87k’s aren’t. How do you go from hitting 25 HR’s in 4 straight seasons to this? His power numbers are awful. What is impressive his OBP (which usually hovers around .400 anyway) and steals this year (20). To give David Wright an A- is almost absurd as doing a paper for a college class with fake interviews as the class was being started an A- too or saying the Raul Ibanez deal was a bad signing. Also, I find it hard to believe you can give anyone that’s been hurt for an extended period of time a grade such as Reyes, Delgado, and Beltran. Plus, your being harsh on Santos. The Mets haven’t had a productive catcher since #31 so what do you really expect anyway. At least with Santos, you know you can play him game in and game out and he will hit the ball and not get hurt unlike Castro who when playing every day breaks down. I like Santos and he has come up with a few big hits this year to help win games so I wouldn’t knock him too much.

]]> By: Chris Wilcox http://www.blueandorange.net/?p=701&cpage=1#comment-485764 Chris Wilcox Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:53:38 +0000 http://www.blueandorange.net/?p=701#comment-485764 For Beltran, I meant first half METS MVP, not NL MVP. I should have made that more clear. Obviously, Pujols is the NL MVP, and by a wide margin. I wouldn't even try to make a case for Beltran otherwise (though he would have been in the discussion for "NL MVPs who aren't Albert Pujols). As for Wright...I mean, are we going to pretend that on base percentage doesn't matter here? His homers are down (though he's still hitting doubles) but he's getting on base at a .410 clip. If you wanted to say he was more of a B/B+ hitter, I could understand, but a C? Players who get on base 41% of the time (meaning they avoid outs 59% of the time) are not C players. He's not driving in runs because the players hitting in the 1-2 holes for much of the season have been guys like Alex Cora and Daniel Murphy (Murphy in the 2 hole in particular has been a laughable disaster). You can't drive in runs if there is nobody on base in front of you, I don't care if you hit .400. For Beltran, I meant first half METS MVP, not NL MVP. I should have made that more clear. Obviously, Pujols is the NL MVP, and by a wide margin. I wouldn’t even try to make a case for Beltran otherwise (though he would have been in the discussion for “NL MVPs who aren’t Albert Pujols).

As for Wright…I mean, are we going to pretend that on base percentage doesn’t matter here? His homers are down (though he’s still hitting doubles) but he’s getting on base at a .410 clip. If you wanted to say he was more of a B/B+ hitter, I could understand, but a C? Players who get on base 41% of the time (meaning they avoid outs 59% of the time) are not C players. He’s not driving in runs because the players hitting in the 1-2 holes for much of the season have been guys like Alex Cora and Daniel Murphy (Murphy in the 2 hole in particular has been a laughable disaster). You can’t drive in runs if there is nobody on base in front of you, I don’t care if you hit .400.

]]> By: Joeadig http://www.blueandorange.net/?p=701&cpage=1#comment-485762 Joeadig Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:40:19 +0000 http://www.blueandorange.net/?p=701#comment-485762 Also, to say that Beltran would have been the first half MVP if not for getting hurt just shows once again that you are blinded by your homerness. Albert Pujoles is clearly the NL MVP; nobody else should even get a vote. Also, to say that Beltran would have been the first half MVP if not for getting hurt just shows once again that you are blinded by your homerness. Albert Pujoles is clearly the NL MVP; nobody else should even get a vote.

]]> By: Joeadig http://www.blueandorange.net/?p=701&cpage=1#comment-485761 Joeadig Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:39:03 +0000 http://www.blueandorange.net/?p=701#comment-485761 I think your unreasonable love for David Wright has got to stop. He's NOT having a good season. He has a high batting average (or he did before his ugly recent slump), but his power, his defense, and his eyebrows keep getting worse. This team has no power and it needs him to drive in more runs; instead, he's become a straight singles hitter. That won't get the job done. He deserves a C at least, if not lower. I think your unreasonable love for David Wright has got to stop. He’s NOT having a good season. He has a high batting average (or he did before his ugly recent slump), but his power, his defense, and his eyebrows keep getting worse. This team has no power and it needs him to drive in more runs; instead, he’s become a straight singles hitter. That won’t get the job done. He deserves a C at least, if not lower.

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