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August Fagerstrom FanGraphs Chat -- 9/13/16
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august fagerstrom
1:19
so, even with the fluky HR/FB and sudden defensive metrics spike, he's not been a legitimate MLB starter
Big Joe Mufferaw
1:19
Why are defensive stats so hard on 1B? They are part of 15 or so plays per game, and there is a massive difference between having a Teixeira compared to a Ryan Howard at 1B.
august fagerstrom
1:20
because basically every other player on the field could handle 1B, whereas the guy who's actually playing 1B could not handle SS, 2B, 3B, CF, etc.
there's inherent value in simply being able to play shortstop adequately. there's no inherent value in being able to play first base. the guys who are playing first base are playing there as a last resort
Jock Yelich
1:21
If Yelich adds Dozier tricks, does he become the Marlins, nay the NL's, best offensive outfielder? Yelich right now plus 15 more homers looks pretty sexy
august fagerstrom
1:22
Agree with Mattingly's quote (and yours) that Yelich + more power becomes one of baseball's best hitters. thing is, even with a reduced ground ball rate this year, he's still hitting a *ton* of grounders, and still isn't pulling the ball in the air. so he's still a pretty major adjustment away
and you could make the case for a lot of guys that if they *start doing thing X that's totally different from what they're doing* that they could be a better player
1:23
Agree that Yelich's raw ability makes it easier to see that adjustment occurring. But after 3.5 years, I'll have to see more than just what he's done this year to believe the 25-30 homer years ready to consistently start coming
Robert
1:23
The Angels pitching staff this year has three torn UCLs (Richards, Heaney, Tropeano), a blood clot (Bedrosian), brain trauma (Shoemaker). The hitting has had some big injuries at times (Cron, Simmons, Escobar), but those guys are basically back. Is the severity of these injuries a reason to focus on 2018, or just to overhaul?
august fagerstrom
1:24
bigger issue might be that injuries to guys like CJ Cron and Yunel Escobar are viewed as "big injuries"
Borkenstein
1:24
Why is one WAR worth $8MM?
august fagerstrom
1:24
because that's roughly what the market has dictated
that's not something we make up. that's something the market decides.
Guest
1:25
True or false: the only thing differentiating Russell and Seager is the former has a better glove and the latter has a .080 BABIP lead.
august fagerstrom
1:26
Seager's got way more power, much better plate discipline, and a batted ball profile that more or less supports the BABIP
Russell's good, but Seager is in another class
Erik
1:26
The pitcher win is a decent stat if view in the context of an entire career, and with large error bars put around it, right? There's not reason to believe a 20-game winner is better than a 15-game winner, but we can pretty safely conclude a 300-win pitcher was better than a 150-win pitcher (from the same era). It gets more hate than it deserves because people use it poorly.
august fagerstrom
1:26
think there's some truth to this, but then you've got Felix Hernandez
1:27
like literally any stat, it's obviously better as the sample grows larger. it's just, it still tells us so little and there's so many more telling stats, that even over the course of a career there's really no point in looking at it, IMO
Philip Christy
1:27
This talk of Brian Jordan reminded me of Brian Hunter. Brian Hunter once went 0 for 13 in a doubleheader (the first game went 17 innings).
august fagerstrom
1:27
wow
can someone do that now so I can write a post about it
Vince Clortho
1:28
My father is also not persuadable on pitcher wins! Dads sure do love wins
august fagerstrom
1:29
I mean, he definitely gets that they're not a good evaluation tool, overall. but then when a pitcher (usually Corey Kluber) gives up the go-ahead run in a 3-2 game with guys on second and third in the eighth, he'll text me something about how "winning pitchers get that out when it matters." like I said, it's a love/hate relationship.
also, he's definitely going to read this chat later and laugh about it. hi, Dad
Big Joe Mufferaw
1:30
In 1984 Garry Templeton won the Silver Slugger with a .258/.312/.320 slash line good for a .633 OPS. Was that a mistake or just a horrible season for hitters?
august fagerstrom
1:30
what
holy hell, he really did
do you have to be qualified to win the Silver Slugger? should probably know that but I dont
either way, Craig Reynolds qualified and was clearly better
Templeton didn't even have a higher average or more RBI, so not sure how that happened
1:33
pretty weak offensive season for shortstops though
Carrotjuice
1:33
Where are the tunes? How do you baseball chat without tunes?
august fagerstrom
1:33
oh man, totally forgot to even post any
stupid lateness
1:34
I spent the first 45 minutes or so listening to the waltzes of Johann Strauss II
fun fact: The Blue Danube is my all-time favorite piece of music. its inclusion in yesterday's Javier Baez post sent me on a Waltz kick for the last 24 hours
now I'm listening to Anderson .Paak's "Malibu" which is fantastic:
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