Abreu definitely was on the juice up until this season. 8 dongs this year! You don't go from being one of the best hitters in the game, to a guy who struggles to make contact. Abreu can't hit a high fastball anymore, especially if it's inside. He goes up there looking for a walk every at bat now. Abreu is the most coveted Phillie right now, but Utley and Howard are far better than this punchless Judy. Get out of town Bobby, and if you know what's good for you, give Barry a call ASAP!
Balco Bobby
- Thread starter Wise and Wiser
- Start date
Bobby always looks for the walk and when the game is on the line he doesnt want to be at bat. He is horrible in clutch situatiuons and is a lazy fielder. Its time for him to be traded!
Couldn't agree more. Howard is such a great young player. it will be fereshing to watch baseball like it was supposed to be, steroid free, or at least Steroid Light. I know many fans say they don't care what the players take, I care. I don't want my nephew having to compete with players that are dirty. The problem there is that at 18 he might feel indestructable, didn't we all at that age?, and feel that steroids are needed to keep up with those around him that are using.
He's 6 for 16 against today's pitcher, (Vargas) batting .375 with 2 HR's.
Last 7 days he's 1 for 20 .150
Last 7 days he's 1 for 20 .150
Wise- Just read this from philliesblog.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Focus on RISP ?
As I noted in my post on the State of the Phillies on Monday, the Phillies haven?t been creating many opportunities and they haven?t been capitalizing on them either. The team OBP is thirteenth in the National League, a far cry from the recent past, where the Phillies have been one of the top four teams in that category. So the Phillies haven?t been creating opportunities to score by getting runners on base. Conversely, when the Phillies do get runners in position to score they are maddeningly inefficient at getting them home. In fact, the Phillies are the worst team in the NL in batting average with runners in scoring position (BA/RISP).
NL: BA/RISP
11. Mets: .259
12. Brewers: .259
13. Nationals: .253
14. Reds: .247
15. Cubs: .242
16. Phillies: .235
League: .266
Here is how the Phillies are doing individually:
BA/RISP
Utley: .358
Abreu: .347
Lieberthal: .286
Rollins: .255
Howard: .228
Rowand: .228
Bell: .210
Burrell: .205
Dellucci: .200
Victorino: .194
Fasano: .083 (gone)
Team: .235
Incidentially, the Phillies pitchers are surrendering .279 BA/RISP. The league average is .266, so the Phillies are really getting the raw end of the deal: they can't hit in the clutch and they are giving up far too many hits.
There are some interesting things that I found looking at the numbers. Let?s start by noting that there is a BIG gulf between Chase Utley and Bobby Abreu and the rest of the team. Both Abreu and Utley are right on the money. Their slugging averages (.680 for Abreu and .612 for Utley) are way up also. Both of these guys really excel with runners at second and third. One of the reasons why I?d hate to see the Phillies deal Bobby Abreu, even though he?d fetch quite a price for the team if he were to be dealt to say ? the Detroit Tigers or Chicago White Sox, is that Abreu?s Gross Productive Average (GPA) is a stunning .395 with RISP. His slugging percentage goes from .464 to .680, a .216 point increase, w/RISP. Without him, the Phillies offense would probably grind to a screeching halt. I think that dealing Abreu would be utterly fatal to the Phillies chances of making the playoffs.
Confused about what I?m talking about? Here are the stats I refer to defined:
OBP (On-Base Percentage): How often a player gets on base. (H + BB + HBP) / (Plate Appearances)
SLG (Slugging Percentage): Power at the plate. (Total Bases / At-Bats = Slugging Percentage)
GPA (Gross Productive Average): (1.8 * .OBP + .SLG) / 4 = .GPA. Invented by The Hardball Times Aaron Gleeman, GPA measures a players production by weighing his ability to get on base and hit with power. This is my preferred all-around stat.
Now who are the culprits? A few interesting facts emerge. Pat Burrell is hitting .205 BA/RISP, but the OBP is .372, a product of the fact that he?s drawn 24 walks this season with runners on second and third. Are pitchers going around him to pitch to Ryan Howard? Somehow I doubt it, but Burrell does seem to take a lot of pitches. While Abreu has 49 RBIs w/ RISP, Howard has 40, and Utley has 33, Burrell only has 28 RBIs despite nearly twenty more At-Bats than Utley. In fact, most damningly, Burrell has just six more RBIs than the weak-hitting David Bell, despite having twenty-six more At-Bats. Burrell?s .318 slugging percentage w/RISP is worst on the team, aside from Fasano and Victorino, worse than David Bell (.371), Aaron Rowand (.368), and Jimmy Rollins (.455).
Ryan Howard, Home Run Derby champ, is also a culprit here too. Howard has the most At-Bats on the team w/RISP, yet he?s just hitting .228. Interestingly, this isn?t a new thing for Howard. He struggled in 2005 w/RISP, hitting .241. His slugging percentage in 2005, however, was a robust .517. Howard struck out 33 in 87 At-Bats. Thus far in 2006, Howard has K?d 31 times in 92 At-Bats. I wonder what is wrong. Initially, I was going to speculate that Howard was trying to drive the ball too hard this year (someone helpfully pointed that out a few weeks ago) and that was the reason why his batting average was dropping, but that doesn?t seem to be the case: he struck out more often last year (38%) than this year (34%).
As I mentioned above, the Phillies are the worst team in the NL in BA/RISP. Part of the problem that the team is having is that they aren?t producing opportunities to score runs either. The Phillies are dead-last in the NL in At-Bats w/RISP. With those kinds of struggles, there is little hope for the Phillies to produce runs to cover for the fact that the Phillies starting pitching is playing terrible baseball. The Phillies need to start producing opportunities to score and exploiting them if they are going to have any chance at making the playoffs.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Focus on RISP ?
As I noted in my post on the State of the Phillies on Monday, the Phillies haven?t been creating many opportunities and they haven?t been capitalizing on them either. The team OBP is thirteenth in the National League, a far cry from the recent past, where the Phillies have been one of the top four teams in that category. So the Phillies haven?t been creating opportunities to score by getting runners on base. Conversely, when the Phillies do get runners in position to score they are maddeningly inefficient at getting them home. In fact, the Phillies are the worst team in the NL in batting average with runners in scoring position (BA/RISP).
NL: BA/RISP
11. Mets: .259
12. Brewers: .259
13. Nationals: .253
14. Reds: .247
15. Cubs: .242
16. Phillies: .235
League: .266
Here is how the Phillies are doing individually:
BA/RISP
Utley: .358
Abreu: .347
Lieberthal: .286
Rollins: .255
Howard: .228
Rowand: .228
Bell: .210
Burrell: .205
Dellucci: .200
Victorino: .194
Fasano: .083 (gone)
Team: .235
Incidentially, the Phillies pitchers are surrendering .279 BA/RISP. The league average is .266, so the Phillies are really getting the raw end of the deal: they can't hit in the clutch and they are giving up far too many hits.
There are some interesting things that I found looking at the numbers. Let?s start by noting that there is a BIG gulf between Chase Utley and Bobby Abreu and the rest of the team. Both Abreu and Utley are right on the money. Their slugging averages (.680 for Abreu and .612 for Utley) are way up also. Both of these guys really excel with runners at second and third. One of the reasons why I?d hate to see the Phillies deal Bobby Abreu, even though he?d fetch quite a price for the team if he were to be dealt to say ? the Detroit Tigers or Chicago White Sox, is that Abreu?s Gross Productive Average (GPA) is a stunning .395 with RISP. His slugging percentage goes from .464 to .680, a .216 point increase, w/RISP. Without him, the Phillies offense would probably grind to a screeching halt. I think that dealing Abreu would be utterly fatal to the Phillies chances of making the playoffs.
Confused about what I?m talking about? Here are the stats I refer to defined:
OBP (On-Base Percentage): How often a player gets on base. (H + BB + HBP) / (Plate Appearances)
SLG (Slugging Percentage): Power at the plate. (Total Bases / At-Bats = Slugging Percentage)
GPA (Gross Productive Average): (1.8 * .OBP + .SLG) / 4 = .GPA. Invented by The Hardball Times Aaron Gleeman, GPA measures a players production by weighing his ability to get on base and hit with power. This is my preferred all-around stat.
Now who are the culprits? A few interesting facts emerge. Pat Burrell is hitting .205 BA/RISP, but the OBP is .372, a product of the fact that he?s drawn 24 walks this season with runners on second and third. Are pitchers going around him to pitch to Ryan Howard? Somehow I doubt it, but Burrell does seem to take a lot of pitches. While Abreu has 49 RBIs w/ RISP, Howard has 40, and Utley has 33, Burrell only has 28 RBIs despite nearly twenty more At-Bats than Utley. In fact, most damningly, Burrell has just six more RBIs than the weak-hitting David Bell, despite having twenty-six more At-Bats. Burrell?s .318 slugging percentage w/RISP is worst on the team, aside from Fasano and Victorino, worse than David Bell (.371), Aaron Rowand (.368), and Jimmy Rollins (.455).
Ryan Howard, Home Run Derby champ, is also a culprit here too. Howard has the most At-Bats on the team w/RISP, yet he?s just hitting .228. Interestingly, this isn?t a new thing for Howard. He struggled in 2005 w/RISP, hitting .241. His slugging percentage in 2005, however, was a robust .517. Howard struck out 33 in 87 At-Bats. Thus far in 2006, Howard has K?d 31 times in 92 At-Bats. I wonder what is wrong. Initially, I was going to speculate that Howard was trying to drive the ball too hard this year (someone helpfully pointed that out a few weeks ago) and that was the reason why his batting average was dropping, but that doesn?t seem to be the case: he struck out more often last year (38%) than this year (34%).
As I mentioned above, the Phillies are the worst team in the NL in BA/RISP. Part of the problem that the team is having is that they aren?t producing opportunities to score runs either. The Phillies are dead-last in the NL in At-Bats w/RISP. With those kinds of struggles, there is little hope for the Phillies to produce runs to cover for the fact that the Phillies starting pitching is playing terrible baseball. The Phillies need to start producing opportunities to score and exploiting them if they are going to have any chance at making the playoffs.
Thanks Cisco. Interesting read! Abreu still drives in runs, but he lost his power when he decided to quit using the juice. People still refer to last year's homerun contest, but that's only because they don't want to accept the truth!
I realize that i can get frustrating watching a guy struggle at the plate..and his power numbers are off this year..thus speculation is warranted i suppose but how can you say that he does not hit in the clutch???
batting 338 with runners on base.
batting 326 with runners in scoring position
batting 325 with runners in scoring position with 2 outs
he is batting 353 with men on with 2 outs
and
333 with a man on third with 2 outs
pretty good numbers this year..?
of course the term "clutch" is subjective...but those numbers seem to be a pretty decent start
and i cant argue that howard is one of the premier young hitters in the game and is having a great year..but look at these situational numbers
with runners on he is batting 262
with runners in scoring position he is batting 216
and with runners in scoring position with 2 outs he is batting 196
and finally with bases loaded he is batting 111
def. not starting an argument just an observation..
would seem from the numbers anyway that abreu would be a much better person to have up in bat in clutch situations
cooz
batting 338 with runners on base.
batting 326 with runners in scoring position
batting 325 with runners in scoring position with 2 outs
he is batting 353 with men on with 2 outs
and
333 with a man on third with 2 outs
pretty good numbers this year..?
of course the term "clutch" is subjective...but those numbers seem to be a pretty decent start
and i cant argue that howard is one of the premier young hitters in the game and is having a great year..but look at these situational numbers
with runners on he is batting 262
with runners in scoring position he is batting 216
and with runners in scoring position with 2 outs he is batting 196
and finally with bases loaded he is batting 111
def. not starting an argument just an observation..
would seem from the numbers anyway that abreu would be a much better person to have up in bat in clutch situations
cooz
Cooz,
I'm assuming your post was directed towards Eagles311. I never said he wasn't clutch, but I will say this, for a guy who makes as much as he does, the following stat is absolutely appalling!
Abreu last hit a HR on June 13th
Like I said before, get out of town, and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out!
I'm assuming your post was directed towards Eagles311. I never said he wasn't clutch, but I will say this, for a guy who makes as much as he does, the following stat is absolutely appalling!
Abreu last hit a HR on June 13th
Like I said before, get out of town, and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out!
There was a lot of talk last year Miguel Tejada was coming off the juice as well, but he seems to be holding his own this year.
Speaking of juice, Sammy is ready to play.
Speaking of juice, Sammy is ready to play.
No doubt in my mind that Tejada was on it. He has lost a lot of power as well. Not the same player he was last year.
He's always been more of a line drive hitter. Even when he was "allegedly" on the juice his career high was only 31 HR's and he's avg only 23 a yr over his career. His HR numbers this year are slightly down but it really looks like another typical year of 100 runs, 100 RBI's, 100 walks and 30 SB's. Not many guys can say all that. He also leads the NL on on base %. Many people feel he should hit lead-off for Philly since Rollins keeps proving he is really not great in that spot.
