Cup o’ coffee tidbits.
Written by Joe Veno on June 26, 2009 – 9:06 AM -- Eric Byrnes may be fun to watch…But he was never worth that huge contract. And now he is hurt. I dont want to place the organization at fault for the injury, but I do place them at fault for doling out the contract to begin with. In 2007, Byrnes had a career year, a year in which he was most likely to never have again. Then, a somewhat financially constricted team, with a surplus of outfielders, chose to ink a deal for three years, $30 million. And they are regretting it. Granted, the “surplus” of young outfielders turned into other players, as they chose to trade a few of them. But this is exactly what teams with financial constraints should avoid, dishing out contracts to players that aren’t worthy. Especially contracts that are given to a player that has never done much, then all of a sudden comes out and does something. That, my friends, we would call a career year. Since Byrnes can play center field, he isn’t a terrible player. But with the crop of players the Diamondbacks had on the farm, it just didn’t make sense for them to lock him up for a bunch of money.
- Kevin Millwood isn’t good: Once upon a time, Millwood led the league in ERA. I give credit to “league adjustment” for that occurrence. Right now, his ERA sits at 2.62, in a hitters park. But here’s the thing: Millwood is striking out fewer batters per nine, and walking just as many as in previous seasons. His FIP is pretty high for that ERA, at 4.47. And his BABIP is very low, at .263. The reason for the low ERA? Improved defense. The Rangers finished dead last in “Defensive Efficiency” last season. Well, this season they are currently fifth. That is why Millwood looks good. That, and luck.
- The Angels apparently made a good decision: On the offensive side of the ball. Which is crazy, I know. But Juan Rivera is batting .306/.351/.504. And not only that, but according to UZR, Rivera is valuable defensively too. Which may or may not mean much. Let the season play out before we establish whether or not Rivera is all of a sudden a great defensive left fielder. For that matter, I need more time on the offensive side of the ball too. And those offensive numbers, for a corner, are nothing special anyway. Yet, still pretty good. Rivera isn’t expensive, so right now he looks like a bargain. But there are still two years+ left on the contract.
- JD Drew playing great in June?: Seriously? Really? I wasn’t aware that he was playing so well this month. Adequately? Yes, I can see that. But .291/.466/.509 with a .438 wOBA (which is 10th in baseball). This is why this guy is under-appreciated. Sure, the numbers are not everything, but he just goes about his business and does his job. I watch almost every game, and I didn’t realize he was hitting so well in the month of June. Not this well anyway. It isn’t like last years June, as I have seen very few stretches comparable to that. But Drew is quietly having a nice little season, again, albeit it is not spectacular, just nice.
- The Green Monster: Dave Allen over at The Baseball Analysts attempts to explain whether or not the Red Sox utilize the Monster enough for that to explain their dominance at home. But his conclusion presents this interesting tidbit: No. It seems that opposing teams change their swing more than the Red Sox do to try to get the most out of that giant wall in left field. Odd, I know.
Posted in Anaheim Angels, Arizona Diamondbacks, Boston Red Sox, Player Analysis, Texas Rangers | 8 Comments »
June 26th, 2009 at 10:47 AM
I thought WINNING made you good. I understand the importance of numbers, stats, etc but the most important thing in this game is winning and Millwood has been doing that. In my book, that makes him “good”
June 26th, 2009 at 12:19 PM
You know how they have “web gems” on ESPN? I think they should have a segment called “why defense matters”, where they show unspectacular plays but very above-average plays. If only ESPN were run by statheads…
June 26th, 2009 at 1:08 PM
or if ESPN was run by people with anything in their heads…
June 26th, 2009 at 3:01 PM
Jeff, winning is good. I just don’t like “wins” as an evaluator of pitchers :0
June 26th, 2009 at 3:02 PM
PWH, that would be a good idea. And seeing Zimmerman again only makes me like his D even more. Very good defender over there at the hot corner.
June 26th, 2009 at 3:03 PM
Mike, ESPN definitely has some work to do. I like their football analysts, but as far as baseball, no. The only guys I like are on the interweb. I seriously cannot name a guy that I like on Basebll Tonight. They aren’t all *terrible* but they aren’t very good either.
June 27th, 2009 at 12:21 PM
Nate Silver from BP was on Baseball Tonight
once. He is the only person I’ve ever liked on that show.
June 27th, 2009 at 1:41 PM
I wish I had seen him –he is maybe the coolest ( and smartest) geek on the planet. I particularly loathe steve berthiuame.