SB Nation User Blog: xanthan

Giants Position Production 1999-2009

xanthan — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:00:22 -0000

I took the Giants positional players from 1999-2009 and plotted their sOPS+ scores. A sOPS+ score of 100 for any position on this graph indicates that the player was an average hitter in regards to the position.

Also, remember this:

A quick note about this graph. The red horizontal line indicates a score of 100 or a league average hitter for that position. We are also counting total production for each position. So, it’s not just the starter at the position, but the total overall production line (starters, bench players, substitutions) from that position. And remember that we’re not really considering defensive value in today’s post. So, some players who aren’t necessarily great hitters might look a little worse than intended. A pretty good example of this is Omar Vizquel in 2007. He accounted for 85% of the SS production on that Giants team while putting up a 71 sOPS+. But, he was very good defensively that year and was worth around +2 wins as a total player.

Here's the infiedlers

And the outfielders

Quick thoughts!

You'll be happy to know that the 2009 sOPS+ for 2B is the lowest of any other position on the Giants in the past 10 years. Icky.
The Giants don't really seem to understand 1B from an offensive point of view.
LF was good. Who was that guy again?
Pablo Sandoval is largely responsible for the best 3B production that the Giants have seen in the last 10 years.
Man, the early days of Rich Aurilia and Jeff Kent sure were nice. Check out 2001, that's a very good hitting middle infield.

BP: Dream Crushing (Tim Alderson)

xanthan — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:52:39 -0000

BP: Dream Crushing (Tim Alderson)

KG has an article up on scouts and some negative opinions on prospects. Our very own Tim Alderson gets a mention.

Fred Lewis and Flyballs

xanthan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:29:31 -0000

There's been a lot of talk around McC and other Giants sites about Fred Lewis. I was writing a little about Lewis today when I started to think out loud.

Something I wanted to work into the main article, but I didn’t was that in 2008, Fred Lewis hit an insane: .323/.320/.781 on flyballs. That’s good for a sOPS+ of 182. Fred hit 82% better than the league average hitter for flyballs. That’s just incredible. And not repeatable most likely for Lewis.

Flyballs are turned into outs more than groundballs, but they do more damage when they fall for hits. Lewis was batting over .300 on flyballs in 2008. Even Albert Pujols "only" hit .234/.223/.766 on flyballs in 2008, or an sOPS+ of 135.

This year Fred is hitting .135/.135/.514 on flyballs. That’s an sOPS+ of 49. He’s under the league average for flyballs by 51%. That’s a huge hit for any batter to take. Combine that with his drop in BABIP and you’ve got a struggling hitter. Since most of his underlying numbers are the same, I would think that if his average on flyballs moves back towards league average or at least something respectable and than the current sOPS+ 49 that he’s dealing with, Lewis should see a bump in his offensive production.

Lewis won't post a 180 sOPS+ on flyballs going forward but he's just been getting killed lately when he's hitting the ball into the air. Anyone have any ideas as to why? Bad luck? And, does anyone have any good links for studies on this sort of thing? I'm looking to learn.

Here's a bad looking graph of Fred Lewis' sOPS+ for groundballs, flyballs, and liners from 2007-2009

Everything looks pretty similar except for the extreme drop off in flyball sOPS+.

Any ideas why? Also, please don't turn this into a FRED LEWIS STINKS thread. I'll send jponry after you.

Mel Hall Jr. Convicted of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old

xanthan — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:52:02 -0000

Mel Hall Jr. Convicted of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old

Ick.

Retrospective: Your Favorite Offseason Giants Articles

xanthan — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:54:48 -0000

I love bat-shit crazy offseason baseball reporting. Most often the pieces are filled with players who are in the best shape of their careers, ready to prove themselves, and other assorted nonsense. Here's a few of my favorite Giants articles from before this season started.

Feel free to add your own!

---

Fred Lewis is going to hit dingers while batting third!

Choice quote(s):

Moving Lewis to the third spot will free him to swing with abandon. Leading off a team-high 79 times last year, Lewis needed to take pitches, which gave the Giants a good first look at the opposing hurler but sometimes inhibited him from pulverizing hittable deliveries. Lewis batted .279 at leadoff, which was comparable to his overall .282 average. But perhaps significantly, he hit .330 (29-for-88) in the third through sixth positions.

Fred Lewis hit third for all of 8 games!

"He has unbelievable pop," Lansford said.

And he's hit 3 dingers this year.

Healthy Frandsen ready for his shot

Choice quote(s):

It has been a typical offseason for Frandsen. He has resumed training at Athletes Performance Institute in the Phoenix area alongside his personal workout partner, American League Most Valuable Player Dustin Pedroia of Boston, and other Major Leaguers such as the Dodgers' Andre Ethier, the Pirates' Freddy Sanchez and the Rangers' Josh Hamilton.

Frandsen fully expects to reach their level.
"If I get the opportunity," he said, "I think a lot of people know what I can do."

Hint: You won't get the chance.

CANYON THROWING!

They'll often trek up a road from Zito's house into the hills and stand on opposite ends of a canyon. So it's obvious what happens if one of their throws falls short or somebody can't hold onto a toss. "The ball's gone," Wilson said Thursday during a visit to AT&T Park. "We lost about six balls one day."

/throws ball into canyon

Mets Claim Misch

xanthan — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:01:34 -0000

Mets Claim Misch

Source: Rotoworld

Mets claimed LHP Pat Misch off of waivers from the San Francisco Giants.

Misch will report to Triple-A Buffalo. With only Pedro Feliciano as a weapon against lefties -- Ken Takahashi, the second lefty in the New York bullpen, is more effective against righties -- Misch could get a chance at some point this season.

The Wilson vs. Dunn AB from the 8th last night. The Nats announcers were griping about it for a...

xanthan — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 12:50:52 -0000

The Wilson vs. Dunn AB from the 8th last night. The Nats announcers were griping about it for a good half hour after it happened.

PFX thinks it was a good pitch.

Bryce Harper SI article

xanthan — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:38:36 -0000

Bryce Harper SI article

Pretty interesting read.

Stupid Trade Rumors: Giants Might be Interetsed in Corey Hart

xanthan — Sun, 31 May 2009 13:37:07 -0000

Stupid Trade Rumors: Giants Might be Interetsed in Corey Hart

From Rotoworld:

The Tigers, Giants and Red Sox have all scouted and/or discussed the possibility of acquiring Corey Hart, reports the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo.

The Giants and Red Sox both have pitching to give, with the Brewers needing a starting pitcher. Hart got off to a slow start on the year, but a couple recent strong games have pushed him to .256/.330/.415 on the season. He makes a lot of sense for the Giants. If the Brewers were to deal Hart, either Jody Gerut or Frank Catalanotto would likely start.

---

I'm not really sure how Corey Hart works on the Giants. MORE OFS!

Overperformers vs. Underperformers as of 5/29/09

xanthan — Fri, 29 May 2009 23:09:34 -0000

Yay, graphs! I posted something similar back in December.

RA/9 vs. tRA for the starters and relievers. The closer to the line a pitcher is, the better their RA/9 matches up with their tRA (tRA is also scaled to 9 innings like RA/9). If you're in the upper-left section of the graph, you've underperformed your tRA. If you're in the lower-right section, you've overperformed your tRA.

Name	RA/9	tRA	Diff.
Barry Zito	4.02	6.14	-2.15
Matt Cain	2.40	4.47	-2.10
Jonathan Sanchez	5.02	4.86	0.13
Tim Lincecum	3.18	2.28	0.87
Randy Johnson	6.26	5.05	1.18

Good Stuff: Lincecum is super awesome. Jonathan Sanchez and Randy Johnson have pitched slightly better than their RA/9's indicate.

Bad Stuff: Matt Cain and Barry Zito have benefited from some good luck. Both Cain and Zito have outpitched their tRA's by +2 runs.

Name	RA/9	tRA	Diff.
Jeremy Affeldt	2.57	4.47	-1.90
Brian Wilson	5.57	3.33	2.24
Justin Miller	2.14	4.41	-2.27
Brandon Medders	3.15	5.46	-2.31
Bob Howry	4.00	2.61	1.39
Merkin Valdez	3.46	5.63	-2.17

Good Stuff: Wilson's recent struggles have been hard to watch, but he's still most likely our best reliever in the pen. His tRA is sitting at 3.33. Bob Howry also got a surprisingly good tRA.

Bad Stuff: Parts of the bullpen have overperformed substantially. I was surprised to see Affeldt get dinged by tRA. Medders is probably ready to implode at any minute. Merkin Valdez hasn't been much better.

*SSS caveat for the data -- especially the relievers. Things can still change pretty quickly in terms of overall numbers.