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A-P Minor Rants Spinoff Thread

Rotblatt Aug 12 2005 04:04 PM

So why DO we have only the 8th best record in the NL when we've scored the 5th most runs in the league and allowed the 5th least? Personally, I think some of the blame lies with Willie's misuse of the pen. In the beginning of the season, we'd use DeJean & Aybar in close games and Heilman & Bell in blowouts. Any other thoughts?

Edgy DC Aug 12 2005 04:12 PM

I think Willie has been trying to do something like what Hodges did in 1968 --- use his first year to see what he has. Perhaps, purely speculatively here, he wanted to grow Bell and and Heliman into their roles, rather than put them in a situation where, if they come up short, their confidence is down. I similarly think that's why he's been slow to upgrade Wright's batting position. Reyes, on the other hand was enconced alreadly at the top of the order, so the best thing for his confidence, was to keep him there no matter what, rather than downgrade him and have him earn his way back. Maybe I just think Fran Healy is managing the team.

Rotblatt Aug 12 2005 04:46 PM

Huh. So I looked at our #P/PA and we're actually tied for 6th in the league with 3.77. We're tied for 10th in BB/PA with .080, and tied for 9th in BB/K with 0.46. So our plate discipline isn't terrible, although it could use improvement. Looking at our stats, we should REALLY have a much better record than we do. The upside to this is that teams who are "unlucky" one year don't tend to be unlucky the following year, meaning that we could be in shape for a decent bounce next year, even if we sit pat (which I doubt we will). On the other hand, our offense has been remarkably healthy this year and our pitching will probably regress somewhat.

Frayed Knot Aug 12 2005 04:58 PM

- We're some 4 games worse than our Pyth Proj would indicate ... something that's either managerial related or due to luck of the draw depending on which school of thought you subscribe to. - The 3 teams w/worse RS/RA ratios yet better records than us are: Florida (1.0 game ahead), Philly (1.5 GA) & Washington (who had a freakish Pyth-defying 1st half - 1.0 GA). I tend to think those rather small differences are largely just random chance than caused by some specific flaw. The three teams with better RS/RA are the ones seriously above us in standings: StL, Hou, Atl

Johnny Dickshot Aug 12 2005 05:18 PM

WWSB has been extraordinarily patient with this team and, at least until yesterday's events, I was beginning to believe what the players were saying regarding the "one big run" that they seem to feel every good team has in them. This thought is always expressed by Floyd in interviews -- every time -- and Benson said it the other day too, and WWSB frequently alludes to it, so I suspect he's the guy telling them that and they're repeating it back, which makes sense given the way he's managing the team: He's trying to make 'em believe they can start to kick ass until they start kicking ass. Hats off to WWSB for being out there with Cammy and being strong yesterday too. You know, it's correct in principal -- one 10 out of 13, or 15 out of 22 spurt from these guys and they're setting pretty strong. The numbers above suggest that it's not impossible. Let's hope that yesterday's accidents can somehow inspire these guys as opposed to frighten them and that the injuries to Beltran aren't serious enough to shelf him for long because just maybe Floyd takes him on his back and they go on that run FOR Cameron.

cooby Aug 12 2005 05:19 PM

I can see that, and I think Cliff's love and respect for Cameron is one of the reasons he stayed in that game last night...

Johnny Dickshot Aug 12 2005 05:23 PM

Nothing's official but I get the impression Cliff is sort of the leader of this team.

Centerfield Aug 12 2005 06:11 PM

No. It's Gary Sheffield.