SB Nation User Blog: B Ray

Gabe Gross: Not so average?

B Ray — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 02:52:13 -0000

I think most of us who frequent this site are aware of Gabe Gross' unusual righty/lefty split this year (i.e. he's hitting righties like usual, murdering lefties), and after watching him nearly collect his second HR off lefty Renyel Pinto, I began to question the perception of Gross as a righty-only kind of guy. So, I took a gander at some of his statistics and produced a number of the following inquiries...

via cache.daylife.com

First, career Gross' splits (per Yahoo! Sports, bleh):

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
vs. Left	120	136	19	23	8	2	3	13	22	49	2	0	.169	.285	.324	.608
vs. Right	429	950	149	244	51	5	34	136	141	212	15	7	.257	.354	.428	.782

Obviously, Gross' recent prolific hitting hasn't affected his considerably dismal career numbers against left handed hitting. However, with only 136 AB in 120 games, Gabe No. 1 sees these left handers only one time around -- when he actually does see them. Delving further, we find that Gross has accumilated 68 of his 136 ABs (49%) during 2008 (mostly with the Rays). Before that year, he was seeing lefties 11-21 times a year.

This year, as noted earlier, he's doing much better vs. LHP:

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
vs. Left	10	14	5	5	2	1	1	7	4	2	1	0	.357	.500	.857	1.357
vs. Right	47	115	18	30	6	0	3	17	19	28	5	1	.261	.366	.391	.757

Now, here's where my informations end and my questions begin:

Is that sample size (136 ABs / 158 PAs) too small to determine whether or not he's suited for platoon work? I definately know that his 14 ABs (18 PAs) this year is too small to predict anything. But anectdotally he seems sharper against LHPs.
Is there some place I can get BABIP or any other advanced metrics vs. LHP? I just can't seem to find anything. Mayhaps Gross was unlucky in '08 against LHPs?
Seeing as how I can't seem to find minor league splits, I'm assuming he must have had a track record of struggling against LHPs, otherwise we wouldn't be where we are. Does anyone else know if this is actually the case?
Is it possible that his increased PAs against LHPs in 2008 resulted in a significant improvement in his ability to see their pitches? Is there any prescedant for this?

Could Gross, with his "averageness" against righties and a possible potential "averageness" against lefties and plus defense, actually be above average!?! [pause for effect]

With an everyday Gross, we could deal Kaplar -- who's too good to just sit, IMO -- and let Joyce incubate for as long as necessary. Who knows?

Let me know what you think.

Poll

Could Gross play everyday RF?

Three Cheers for China!

B Ray — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:02:03 -0000

Yeah, Yu Darvish was incredible, but China made it a game.

(image via web.worldbaseballclassic.com)

(For those that missed it, Japan beat China 4-0 in the Tokyo Dome this morning.)

I don't know about you guys, but I'm psyched about the World Baseball Classic (WBC). I love to see all the international talent and passion for the sport. Since the 2006 WBC, I have kept my eye on the Chinese team, partly because I visited China around that time and partly because I really want to see the sport flourish in a nation of 1.3 billion potential, um, middle infielders… (Just joking, haha; there are some genuinely tall people in China.) Interestingly, China did not even have a national team before that year (2003). They participated in the WBC in order to prepare for the impending Beijing Olympics.

So, like you guys, I’m sure, I got up at 4:25 this morning to watch as much of the first game of the WBC – before I had to go to rowing practice at 5:45. Anyway, I was simply proud of the Chinese team. These guys really only play a handful of games in their professional leagues, outside of four guys who play outside of China – three in the American minors, and one pitcher who plays in Japan. Only one guy, Ray Chang (who’s in the Pirate’s minor league system), is over 200 lbs.

Anyway, these guys were way overmatched, but – even though they looked absolutely terrified in each close-up – they played quality baseball against a heavy favorite – a team that mercy-ruled them three years ago – and kept the game competitive. Best of all: they did it with pitching and speed (their defense could have been better, and I expect it will do better in its next game). They played a good game against the sport’s most exciting youngster, Yu Darvish, and that’s all that we could ask of them.

Anyway, how about three cheers for the China team?

The Strapping Young Lad. Enough said.

B Ray — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:47:10 -0000

The Strapping Young Lad. Enough said.

Consider This...

B Ray — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:56:40 -0000

In 2004, the Rays definitively most successful season, they won a total of 70 games. Last year, a total of 66 wins. In '02, they mustered a scant 55 wins. Now, at the halfway point of what future generations will refer to as simply The Season, the Rays have a total of 49 wins.

That's 21 less than the best season.

That's 17 less than last year.

That's 6 less than '02.

The kicker: There are 54 games left as of Sunday night. If we go a paltry .500 in that span, we end the season at around 76-59.

So what does this mean to Joe Blow Rays Fan? Well, to me, it means that I'm declaring this season a premature success. I submit for proof:

Edit: Yeah, I know how many games there are within the season; but it's late, and I'm tired, but too excited about RAYS NUMBA ONE to be what the ancients referred to as "entirely or even somewhat accurate" in my "calculations."