EVIL~! alkeiper

I would say only if current game events get posted (and that doesn't include tonight's games). If someone wants to continue a discussion in that thread, by all means.

I'm planning on submitting a ballot, but I'll need a few days to go over the canidates first.

Being a diabetic myself, that makes perfect sense. It certainly helps explain his last two fights.

Interesting series to open up this week. The Florida Marlins visit the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies have struggled lately against the Marlins, but the Marlins are much worse on the road than at home. Dontrelle Willis and Vicente Padilla pitch the opener at 7:05. The Astros (9-4) host the Cardinals (6-7). In my column, I bash the Cards lack of bench depth. They really need to pick up some wins here to avoid facing a big deficit early in the season. The Astros are on fire. Boston (7-5) faces off against Toronto (3-9) Tuesday at the Skydome. With Pedro Martinez vs. Roy Halladay, this is as good a pitching match-up as you'll find in baseball.

Is that criticism?

Giambi's decline has more to do with age than anything. In 2002, his first year with the Yankees, Giambi finished 3rd in the AL in OPS. Third in OBP, fourth in slugging. Contrary to popular opinion, Giambi was quite good last year, his power struggled, but he finished 7th in OPS, 3rd in OBP, first in walks, and first in HBP.

Harden's got 6 Ks, 1 BB in six innings. The A's are believers in the DIPS theory, so I'd be SHOCKED if they dumped Harden.

Not really. This is not like the NBA. Teams know he is better off recuperating and rehabing than hopping on a plane every three days.

First off, why should a cap hurt the big spenders? They are making money, and succeeding in a capitalist environment. In the business world, this success should be rewarded. The Expos and Royals? They are hardly the poster children for smart spending. When the Royals spent $6 Million on Roberto Freakin' Hernandez, it was hard to feel sorry for them. Baseball, and any endeavor, is best run as a competitive enterprise. Big, bad Yankees outspending you? Find a better way, as the Oakland Athletics have done. I do not see a single way a salary cap would benefit baseball. The only thing a salary cap does is sets an artificial limit on player salaries, which fucks up the marketplace. As for the strike, that shows a lack of understanding as to how these things work. The owners would never lock the players out during the season, because they lose the revenues. The players have the advantage by striking during the season, and the owners have the advantage locking players out during the offseason. Every time the labor contract runs out, the greedy owners try and take something, anything, AWAY from the players' association. They are not asking for more. Just the status quo.

Once again, take it to Hardcore Discussion.

All that indicates was that Weaver's poor performance was due to hits allowed. I.E. Derek Jeter sucks.

No need. A good pitcher adjusts to the strike zone.

You can easily judge a pitcher that way, because walks and strikeouts are an amazingly good indicator of pitching talent. In addition, batting average in general is subject to wide variations. Walks and strikeouts don't have it. Its a tough concept to grasp, but the more you really research it, the more you see it. In that case, SOMEONE will lay off those pitches, and you will see it in the walk totals. Look at Chad Hutchinson. In 2001, he K'd 111 batters in 97 2/3 IP. He also walked 104. Believe me, this all works.

Its not big and fluffy. Its something Hugh Hefner or Bob Backlund might wear.

Can we keep the Red Sox/Yankees flaming crap away from this thread, and board in general? It is really quite tiresome for the rest of us.

Well, disprove it then. The idea isn't that it gets pitchers off the hook. The idea is that by using stats INDEPENDANT of a team's fielders, we can determine the future prospects of a pitcher.

It would've possibly seen a different result. But the pitcher has little control over what happens when the ball hits the bat. A different swing, defensive alignment, etc., causes different results.

No, but Ramirez hitting the ball caused the double more than the pitcher.

Yes.

Yes, that something is Manny Ramirez.

No, no, no. John Ruiz never held a title. He holds a meaningless piece of tin that has no more prestege than the sash that came with my bathrobe.

Francisco has it because F-Rod is taken by Felix Rodriguez, of the Giants. The whole _-Rod deal occured with Ivan Rodriguez.

Defensive Independant Pitching Statistics. Or Dips. Join the sabermetric revolution. ::Is clueless:: This is quite useful. A few years ago, the theory developed that pitchers have almost NO control on hits allowed. Sounds crazy, but so far no one has dis-proved the theory, and it appears true. In any case, one can evaluate a pitcher's future potential well by looking at three key statistics. Home runs allowed, walks, and strikeouts. Strikeouts are the most important. A player with a high K rate has a much better chance of future success than one with a low K rate. Hence, I am high on Jose Contreras. On the other side, you have Derek Lowe. His K and BB rates are unimpressive, so he's prone to a downslide here or there. A player with more BBs than Ks, such as Nate Cornejo or Kirk Rueter, is likely headed towards disaster.

Alex has struck out ten times in fifty one plate appearances, a strikeout in 19.6% of his plate appearances. By comparison, he struck out 17.6% of the time during his MVP season last year. Its not the strikeouts, its just that he's not getting hits. Since batting average is one of the most flucutating stats in baseball, I see no reason he won't turn it around. Now, Francisco Rodriguez has seen 26 batters so far this season. He struck out twelve of them, so he K's a batter 46% of the time. Last year, he K'd 28% of the batters he faced. So when you see Alex, you'll see a strikeout 17-19% of the time. With Francisco, you'll see a K 28% of the time. Which one deserves the nickname?

Here's a question to ponder. Javy Lopez hit 42 home runs last year, out of NOWHERE. He's continued hitting this year. He's an aging catcher. Why hasn't anyone levied the dreaded steroid acquisation? If anyone is on roids in MLB, based on stats alone, its this guy. Defensive Independant Pitching Statistics. Or Dips. Join the sabermetric revolution. Defensive Independant Pitching Statistics. Or Dips. Join the sabermetric revolution. As per Maddux, I wouldn't worry just yet. When its an 11-10 game, its likely more a matter of the ballpark than the pitcher. I'm getting excited again about this season. Sweep by the Phillies, and the Marlins get swept. A big series this week against the Marlins gives us a good chance to gain some ground.