SB Nation User Blog: Getting Yosted

William Shakespeare, the Journal-Sentinal and You

Getting Yosted — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:54:34 -0000

With Witrado entering a whole new realm of unprofessionalism, serving as an eyewitness to things he hasn't seen, and the calls for his replacement that are echoing around the world wide intertubes(or at the very least the Wisconsin wide intertubes), I ask you to vote on how the JS could possible replace the stylings of Anthony Witrado. Sadly, the monkey used to help Yost manage last season has been hired away by the Nationals so he's not an option.

Poll

If it is true that a million monkeys banging away on a million typewriters would eventually replicate Willaim Shakespeare, what would it take to randomly generate a Witrado column?

One monkey, but only if wearing his "Numba 1 Stunnah" necklace for inspiration

30 votes

5 monkeys, 2 typewriters, a fifth of Scotch and a handful of peyote

26 votes

Gorman and the Rally Lobster

6 votes

Just Gorman

6 votes

Just the Rally Lobster

9 votes

2 millions monkeys, minimum. The guy's at least twice as creative as Bill Shakespeare

5 votes

I'm pretty sure Witrado is randomly generating his copy already

44 votes

126 votes | Poll has closed

Name that Catcher

Getting Yosted — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:07:01 -0000

We all know our beloved Jason Kendall has struggled at the plate recently, but exactly how bad has he been? Here is Kendall's average for the last 3 years: 243/317/309 and a 67 OPS+. For some historical perspective(and a fun guessing game) on these seasons of futility: What catcher, known for his innovative approach to catching knuckleballs, posted a 200/293/287/62 OPS+ career line? This career spanned six years in an era so dominated by pitchers it led to multiple rule changes.

Playing Time

Getting Yosted — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:31:39 -0000

Out of all the things Ned Yost did poorly, one of the underlooked ones was his inability to properly use his bench. Four of the position players started more than 150 games last year, and it is my opinion this was why the team struggled down the stretch. The starters were worn down, and 'crunch time' isn't the best spot to start resting them.

So with that said, imagine you are the GM and can not only set up the roster but dicatate playing time. From the 40-man roster who do you want to see fill the 5 bench spots, and how do you want to see them used? I see the bench as:

Brad Nelson, platoon 3B/backup corner OF
Craig Counsell, backup SS/2B
TGJr, utility OF
The mythical Mike Rivera, backup C/1B
Vinny Rotino

As the lefty platoon partner, Nelson should start about 90ish games at 3B, with another 15-20 in LF. Counsell should see 50 games starting between SS and 2B with another 10-15 games as a late game defensive sub, Gwynn 40 games in CF/RF, Rivera 40 games at C and another 15-20 at 1B.

Rotino keeps Bill Schroeder from freaking out when The mythical Mike Rivera is used in the same game as Kendall , and can reprise the role of Joe Dillon from last year of striking out against lefties in crucial late game situations when it isn't Kendall's turn to bat. Counsell will continue in his role of hitting late-inning weak ground outs against righties.

What's the problem with this?

Getting Yosted — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:54:10 -0000

Now seems the ideal time for a contending team to sign Barry Bonds. You could basically make the addition without having to juggle any roster spots. Sign him, place him on the 15 day DL and send him to AAA for a rehab assignment. You let your AAA club deal with the media circus while getting an idea what Bonds can do. If he looks like a 44 year old who hasn't picked up a bat in a year you cut him and are done with it. If he looks like he can still hit, by the time he is eligible to come off the DL rosters are expanded to 40 so you just have to make room on the 40 man roster and the initial media feeding frenzy has subsided. It will be a two day story when he is activated to the big league club, but not much beyond that. Also because he would be on the DL as of August 31st he would be eligible for the post-season roster.

I have to be missing something.

The bullpen needs some time off

Getting Yosted — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 21:11:48 -0000

Team Aggregate Stats: 2008
RK	TEAM	GP	W	L	ERA	Sv	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	R	BB	SO	BAA
1	Texas	114	24	21	4.99	29	0	0	425.2	431	236	256	206	314	.265
2	Pittsburgh	113	26	19	4.44	26	0	0	409.1	417	202	210	186	285	.266
3	Florida	116	23	16	3.67	25	0	0	394.1	348	161	179	195	335	.235
4	Cincinnati	117	16	15	3.54	22	0	0	391.2	389	154	179	155	348	.258
5	San Diego	114	15	26	4.48	24	0	0	385.2	403	192	207	152	306	.271
6	NY Yankees	115	17	14	3.73	30	0	0	383.2	330	159	162	151	370	.232
7	Washington	114	19	20	4.14	21	0	0	382.1	350	176	190	175	315	.245
8	Seattle	113	18	20	3.62	23	0	0	380.1	343	153	171	179	333	.240
9	Colorado	115	14	18	4.14	26	0	0	380.0	374	175	195	145	305	.258
10	Baltimore	112	16	19	3.71	33	0	0	378.2	354	156	177	199	277	.253
RK	TEAM	GP	W	L	ERA	Sv	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	R	BB	SO	BAA
11	Atlanta	114	12	18	3.94	17	0	0	377.1	332	165	192	156	313	.237
12	St. Louis	116	19	25	4.19	31	0	0	375.2	389	175	183	179	280	.269
13	Houston	115	20	22	4.12	31	0	0	371.1	355	170	185	148	290	.251
14	LA Dodgers	111	21	14	3.04	26	0	0	370.2	327	125	137	129	347	.236
15	NY Mets	114	17	18	4.21	29	0	0	361.2	341	169	189	141	304	.248
16	Kansas City	114	14	15	4.07	33	0	0	358.1	330	162	180	132	294	.245
17	Chicago Cubs	115	22	16	3.92	33	0	0	353.1	326	154	170	128	339	.244
18	San Francisco	113	14	23	4.24	32	0	0	352.2	344	166	190	161	293	.255
19	Detroit	114	17	19	4.19	23	0	0	352.0	347	164	177	189	245	.260
20	Minnesota	110	19	14	3.91	33	0	0	345.0	351	150	165	121	268	.263
RK	TEAM	GP	W	L	ERA	Sv	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	R	BB	SO	BAA
21	Philadelphia	113	25	16	3.16	32	0	0	342.0	318	120	135	160	279	.248
22	Oakland	111	15	16	3.29	21	0	0	339.1	290	124	131	139	278	.234
23	Arizona	112	10	18	4.07	27	0	0	331.2	317	150	167	120	278	.250
24	Tampa Bay	109	20	11	3.39	35	0	0	329.2	256	124	134	151	283	.214
25	Milwaukee	109	21	16	4.00	38	0	0	326.0	309	145	165	154	270	.250
26	Boston	111	17	16	3.66	35	0	0	324.2	296	132	149	141	280	.243
27	Chicago Sox	111	20	12	3.41	27	0	0	314.1	291	119	140	110	288	.244
28	Cleveland	107	9	21	5.23	19	0	0	311.1	341	181	188	123	255	.277
29	Toronto	107	10	18	2.95	32	0	0	308.0	260	101	106	133	266	.229
30	LA Angels	109	14	13	3.80	47	0	0	294.0	286	124	144	113	240	.254
LEAGUE AVERAGES		GP	W	L	ERA	Sv	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	R	BB	SO	BAA
American League		111	16	16	3.85	30	0	0	346	322	149	163	149	285	.247
National League		114	18	19	3.96	28	0	0	369	352	162	180	155	305	.251
Major League Baseball		113	17	18	3.91	29	0	0	358	338	156	172	152	296	.249

Ned, please CC your way to easing the strain on this bullpen

Getting Yosted — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:24:55 -0000

Team Aggregate Stats: 2008
RK	TEAM	GP	W	L	ERA	Sv	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	R	BB	SO	BAA
1	Pittsburgh	100	24	16	4.47	23	0	0	362.1	372	180	188	164	253	.266
2	Florida	101	20	14	3.80	20	0	0	348.0	313	147	165	177	295	.238
3	Washington	100	18	19	4.31	18	0	0	342.2	328	164	177	161	284	.254
4	San Diego	100	15	22	4.53	18	0	0	342.0	357	172	185	135	276	.270
5	Cincinnati	103	16	13	3.53	21	0	0	339.1	332	133	154	139	308	.255
6	Colorado	100	12	16	4.22	22	0	0	332.2	327	156	172	125	263	.259
7	Atlanta	99	11	15	3.47	15	0	0	329.2	278	127	148	139	269	.229
8	LA Dodgers	98	20	12	3.15	20	0	0	329.0	301	115	127	114	308	.244
9	Houston	101	16	20	4.23	27	0	0	325.1	318	153	167	136	251	.255
10	NY Mets	101	15	14	3.95	25	0	0	321.1	292	141	161	124	267	.241
RK	TEAM	GP	W	L	ERA	Sv	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	R	BB	SO	BAA
11	St. Louis	101	15	22	4.23	28	0	0	321.1	331	151	158	146	245	.268
12	San Francisco	100	13	22	4.23	27	0	0	314.2	308	148	169	148	256	.256
13	Chicago Cubs	100	17	14	4.06	29	0	0	308.0	296	139	154	112	281	.252
14	Philadelphia	99	22	14	2.79	26	0	0	296.2	266	92	103	131	254	.240
15	Milwaukee	95	19	15	4.10	34	0	0	292.0	275	133	151	137	246	.248
16	Arizona	98	10	18	4.10	23	0	0	291.2	276	133	149	110	239	.248
LEAGUE AVERAGES		GP	W	L	ERA	Sv	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	R	BB	SO	BAA
American League		97	15	15	3.84	27	0	0	301	279	129	140	131	249	.246
National League		100	16	17	3.95	24	0	0	325	311	143	158	137	268	.251
Major League Baseball		99	16	16	3.90	25	0	0	313	296	136	150	134	260	.249

The Unified Theory of Grit

Getting Yosted — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 03:13:33 -0000

The UTG is based off a simple measure, the Kendall Unit of Grit(KUG) which is the amount of grit that Jason Kendall emits while at rest, ie mowing the yard, getting his hair cut or just normal everyday stuff. He is the basis because his grit ranking is the highest in recorded history for at rest measurements. There are rumors that their is another being that can emit more grit, the Ecksteinosaurus, but this has never been verified. The closest we have ever come to the Eckstenosaurus in captivity is the Davidecksteinosaurus which is its smaller cousin. While impressive in its own right, the Davidecksteinosaurus is only capable of about .85 KUGs. It has been extrapolated that a full grown Eckstein could be capable of 1.3-1.4 KUGs, but for right now that is just idle speculation.

Some of the key factors in grit production are facial hair(but only if it's un-ironic, so Giambi gains no grit credit for that monstrosity he is sporting), crappy offense, running hard to first all the time, playing so poorly it causes the media to make excuses for the crappy offense and looking like you're trying really hard. To give you a thumbnail sketch of KUG, here is a list of recent players and their grit production:

Derek Jeter: 0.35 KUG-diving into stands and having the media adoration adds to the KUG rating, but being good on offense and poor on defense hurts. KUG rating has been rising the last 12 months as one of those problems seems to be solving itself

Alex Rodriguez: (5.00)KUGs-clearly being the best player of his generation hurts his rating, the only positive movement of his KUG was his move to third to salve a teammate's hurt feelings

Jason Veritek: 0.90 KUGs-Same explanation as Jeter, but with more facial hair and alot less offense. Lacking the existence of Jason Kendall this scale could have easily been called the VUG

Barry Bonds: A negative billion KUGs-ditto A-Rod plus surliness to everyone and the PED issues. Gritty players don't juice, but do sign autographs for all the precious children

When under stress or pressure, a person with a positive KUG rating is capable of able to produce more grit than normal. So during a high leverage situation it is not unheard of for the right player to increase their KUG measurement to 2 KUGs. For an elite KUG-man, they can crank it up to 5 KUGs. No recording of more than 5 KUGs has ever been made, but there is a growing body of work that the Tunguska Event was the result of a release of 8 KUGs. But once again this is idle speculation and no one is able to even comprehend the event that would lead to this level of grit.

Now, all of this research is only good if it can be applied to the real world and I believe I KUG analysis can explain what is ailing two of the Brewers bullpen acquisitions. Both Gagne and Mota made their reputations as elite closer and setup man while with the Dodgers. Their catcher while they were at their best was one Paul Lo Duca. Now normally a last name ending in a vowel is good for at least 0.20 KUGs, but Lo Duca defied this trend early in his career by being an ok but not great catcher and above league average hitter which left him with a paltry 0.10 KUG rating for his time with the Dodgers. This is a barely recordable amount of grit, and it was at this time when Gagne and Mota were posting the gaudy ERA+s of 180 and better and it has been downhill since.

Mota has been a disaster for much of the time since, and it can be traced to a KUG overload. While the Paul Lo Duca of the LA Dodgers was a low KUG emitter, by the time Mota caught up with Lo Duca in Florida and again in New York the man had become grit machine cranking out 0.60 KUGs as his skills faded and he relied on fan appreciation of his hustle and willing dupes in the media to stay in the lineup. This clearly impacted Mota as he posted some of the lowest ERA+s of his career.

For an even sharper explanation, Eric Gagne is the classic grit intolerant player. After his injury/PED withdrawal, he went to the Rangers where his catcher was Gerald Laird. Laird was an up and coming prospect who struggled in his first full season in the show. While he was offensively challenged, he didn't have the expectation of sucking nor the veterandom that promotes grit production. He weighed in at a modest 0.20 KUG, which was not enough to interfere with Gagne's performance. Alas, this was not to last for the full season as Gagne was dealt to the Red Sox and had to pitch to Veritek and his 0.90 KUG production. Gagne simply could not cope with the grit storm that he was surrounded with nite in and nite out, and Veritek has never been able to control his grit output. The trade ended predictably in disaster.

So that brings us to this year and G&M being forced to deal with the namesake of the grit scale. Once again, we have faced disaster. But all is not lost. Now that we have identified what is causing the problem, we are a short distance from solving the problem. While it is not possible for Kendall to emit less than 1 KUG, it is possible that he limit his excess grit in high leverage situations. What we need is someway to convince Kendall that as the game gets later and the score gets closer, that the exact opposite is actually happening. How this is achieved is beyond my abilities as a researcher, but now that the solution to our problem is exposed for the world to see I can only hope someone somewhere resolve this problem.

The Bataan Death March of reliever usage continues

Getting Yosted — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:25:17 -0000

How can these guys be expected to continue at this pace? Some brave soul should stop Julian Tavares before he leaves town. Surely he will be needed after we grind through the other pitchers on the 40 man roster.

Team Aggregate Stats: 2008
RK	TEAM	GP	W	L	ERA	Sv	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	R	BB	SO	BAA
1	San Diego	77	13	18	4.39	15	0	0	270.2	277	132	144	109	208	.268
2	Washington	79	16	13	4.50	15	0	0	270.0	258	135	143	129	225	.252
3	Pittsburgh	77	16	10	4.64	18	0	0	269.1	282	139	146	127	189	.270
4	Florida	77	14	12	3.90	13	0	0	267.2	242	116	126	142	229	.240
5	Cincinnati	79	12	8	3.82	15	0	0	264.0	258	112	123	107	229	.255
6	Atlanta	78	10	15	3.37	13	0	0	259.1	216	97	115	112	208	.226
7	Colorado	78	10	13	3.67	18	0	0	255.0	241	104	116	101	191	.252
8	San Francisco	78	12	15	4.15	21	0	0	251.1	243	116	127	113	201	.254
9	Chicago Cubs	77	14	11	3.37	25	0	0	248.2	224	93	105	91	228	.242
10	NY Mets	77	8	11	3.92	17	0	0	248.0	233	108	127	93	201	.249
RK	TEAM	GP	W	L	ERA	Sv	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	R	BB	SO	BAA
11	LA Dodgers	75	15	9	3.11	12	0	0	246.1	233	85	96	89	238	.248
12	St. Louis	77	9	17	4.27	24	0	0	242.1	246	115	120	116	179	.264
13	Houston	78	13	14	4.09	21	0	0	235.1	233	107	120	97	188	.257
14	Milwaukee	75	13	12	4.16	28	0	0	233.2	222	108	122	122	205	.250
15	Arizona	76	8	12	3.74	18	0	0	226.1	198	94	108	91	195	.234
16	Philadelphia	77	17	9	2.56	20	0	0	224.2	191	64	71	101	186	.230
LEAGUE AVERAGES		GP	W	L	ERA	Sv	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	R	BB	SO	BAA
American League		75	11	11	3.78	21	0	0	232	216	98	107	102	191	.247
National League		77	13	12	3.85	18	0	0	251	237	108	119	109	206	.249
Major League Baseball		76	12	12	3.82	20	0	0	242	227	103	114	105	199	.248

Will someone please do something about this overworked bullpen?

Getting Yosted — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:50:30 -0000

They just can't keep this pace up all season. It's just inhumane that these guys be worked this much. There are still TWO bullpens in the NL who have been used less than the Brewers'.

Team Aggregate Stats: 2008
RK	TEAM	GP	W	L	ERA	Sv	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	R	BB	SO	BAA
1	Pittsburgh	51	13	5	4.08	10	0	0	192.0	194	87	90	89	137	.263
2	San Diego	53	5	13	4.34	10	0	0	190.2	202	92	102	83	137	.276
3	Florida	52	10	7	3.15	10	0	0	188.2	154	66	74	88	141	.225
4	Colorado	52	7	10	4.04	11	0	0	182.2	179	82	91	80	138	.259
5	Chicago Cubs	53	9	9	3.15	16	0	0	180.0	157	63	72	61	155	.235
6	Washington	54	10	10	4.37	11	0	0	179.1	176	87	93	89	150	.257
7	San Francisco	53	9	12	4.42	15	0	0	175.0	184	86	93	79	145	.270
8	Atlanta	52	6	8	3.44	8	0	0	172.2	145	66	73	72	138	.229
9	Cincinnati	53	7	6	4.33	11	0	0	170.1	174	82	90	72	156	.262
10	LA Dodgers	52	13	4	2.95	9	0	0	168.0	151	55	62	60	154	.239
RK	TEAM	GP	W	L	ERA	Sv	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	R	BB	SO	BAA
11	NY Mets	51	5	5	3.56	10	0	0	166.2	153	66	84	66	136	.242
12	Philadelphia	54	14	7	2.81	14	0	0	166.2	146	52	56	73	122	.235
13	Houston	54	13	10	4.18	17	0	0	165.2	174	77	83	62	131	.267
14	Milwaukee	51	12	10	4.15	18	0	0	165.0	151	76	80	93	145	.245
15	St. Louis	53	8	11	3.72	17	0	0	159.2	150	66	71	75	116	.248
16	Arizona	52	3	8	3.38	14	0	0	154.1	129	58	69	62	132	.226
LEAGUE AVERAGES		GP	W	L	ERA	Sv	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	R	BB	SO	BAA
American League		51	7	7	3.84	15	0	0	157	147	67	73	70	128	.249
National League		53	9	8	3.75	13	0	0	173	164	73	80	75	140	.24

That overused Brewer bullpen

Getting Yosted — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:44:13 -0000

Or not. 12th in the NL in innings pitched, 5 1/3 innings under league average.

Good thing we've got those professional journalists with all that access to sources providing us with the straight story, as opposed to those shiftless bloggers who don't know nothing spouting rumor and supposition.

Team Aggregate Stats: 2008
RK	TEAM	GP	W	L	ERA	Sv	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	R	BB	SO	BAA
1	Colorado	46	6	9	3.52	11	0	0	158.2	147	62	71	73	121	.249
2	Pittsburgh	44	11	5	3.98	10	0	0	158.1	155	70	73	73	110	.255
3	San Francisco	47	8	11	4.57	13	0	0	157.2	172	80	87	71	121	.278
4	Chicago Cubs	46	8	7	3.40	14	0	0	156.0	138	59	67	48	125	.238
5	Florida	44	9	6	3.36	8	0	0	155.1	134	58	66	76	112	.236
6	San Diego	46	3	12	4.34	9	0	0	153.1	158	74	84	64	110	.271
7	LA Dodgers	45	12	3	3.06	8	0	0	153.0	138	52	57	53	133	.240
8	Washington	47	8	8	4.12	10	0	0	153.0	148	70	75	76	118	.255
9	Atlanta	44	4	7	3.35	7	0	0	150.1	130	56	63	62	123	.233
10	Houston	47	13	8	3.80	14	0	0	146.2	149	62	68	55	120	.261
RK	TEAM	GP	W	L	ERA	Sv	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	R	BB	SO	BAA
11	Philadelphia	46	12	7	2.86	12	0	0	145.0	122	46	50	69	101	.228
12	Milwaukee	44	10	9	4.51	15	0	0	143.2	141	72	76	91	126	.259
13	St. Louis	47	8	10	4.14	16	0	0	141.1	138	65	70	68	100	.256
14	Cincinnati	46	6	5	4.54	9	0	0	138.2	150	70	75	63	117	.275
15	NY Mets	43	4	4	3.74	9	0	0	137.0	134	57	75	53	112	.252
16	Arizona	44	3	7	3.37	14	0	0	133.2	114	50	61	53	108	.229
LEAGUE AVERAGES		GP	W	L	ERA	Sv	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	R	BB	SO	BAA
American League		44	6	6	3.85	13	0	0	135	127	58	63	59	110	.249
National League		45	8	7	3.79	11	0	0	149	142	63	70	66	116	.251