Octopus Overlords

by **Freezer-TPF-** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 10:10 pm

triggercut wrote:I'll also just put this here:

That's pretty nice of the Cardinals to give Bob Carpenter a ring--it's been a while since he's called games for them!

by **Pyperkub** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 12:46 am

So the giants pull out a third straight and in walk off fashion, with another strong start from Zito.

Bad news is that all-star closer Wilson may be out for the season. Romo and Lopez are good but that will be a blow.

by **triggercut** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 11:45 am

Pyperkub wrote:So the giants pull out a third straight and in walk off fashion, with another strong start from Zito.

Bad news is that all-star closer Wilson may be out for the season. Romo and Lopez are good but that will be a blow.

It's good that they're shutting down Wilson though. Last year at the end of the season when he was topping at 89 and insisting there was nothing wrong, you knew it was hogwash. Tough guy and admirable, but yeah, there was something wrong. I think you nailed the real hurt of this: while the Giants have arms that are more than capable of closing, it definitely hurts the depth a bit.

by **triggercut** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 5:12 pm

Fun at the ol' ballpark...

by **Exodor** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 8:17 pm

Royals get swept by Cleveland and give up 32 runs in 3 games.

So. When do NFL training camps start? :grund:

by **Pyperkub** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 8:31 pm

triggercut wrote:
Pyperkub wrote:So the giants pull out a third straight and in walk off fashion, with another strong start from Zito.

Bad news is that all-star closer Wilson may be out for the season. Romo and Lopez are good but that will be a blow.

It's good that they're shutting down Wilson though. Last year at the end of the season when he was topping at 89 and insisting there was nothing wrong, you knew it was hogwash. Tough guy and admirable, but yeah, there was something wrong. I think you nailed the real hurt of this: while the Giants have arms that are more than capable of closing, it definitely hurts the depth a bit.

Yeah, the start of their downfall last year may have been Posey, but Wilson's issues were the real kicker. If he has the surgery, this would be his second Tommy John they were saying on the tube today.

Also, the bats finally cooled off, and even though Vogelsong overcame a horrid first couple of innings to throw a solid start the streak came to an end, despite a number of late chances. Next on deck, a struggling Phils squad - Halladay vs. Lincecum (who coming into the season said he wanted to save his arm and not throw as many sliders, but has had a rough start). Should be a fun series.

by **triggercut** » Sun Apr 15, 2012 10:00 pm

Pyperkub wrote:
triggercut wrote:
Pyperkub wrote:So the giants pull out a third straight and in walk off fashion, with another strong start from Zito.

Bad news is that all-star closer Wilson may be out for the season. Romo and Lopez are good but that will be a blow.

It's good that they're shutting down Wilson though. Last year at the end of the season when he was topping at 89 and insisting there was nothing wrong, you knew it was hogwash. Tough guy and admirable, but yeah, there was something wrong. I think you nailed the real hurt of this: while the Giants have arms that are more than capable of closing, it definitely hurts the depth a bit.

Yeah, the start of their downfall last year may have been Posey, but Wilson's issues were the real kicker. If he has the surgery, this would be his second Tommy John they were saying on the tube today.

Also, the bats finally cooled off, and even though Vogelsong overcame a horrid first couple of innings to throw a solid start the streak came to an end, despite a number of late chances. Next on deck, a struggling Phils squad - Halladay vs. Lincecum (who coming into the season said he wanted to save his arm and not throw as many sliders, but has had a rough start). Should be a fun series.

Wilson had TJ surgery when he was in college. The book's still a bit unwritten on guys who have had two done, but there are dudes out there like Isringhausen who are pulling MLB checks having done it. Wilson's much, much younger than Izzy, and doesn't have the other delivery issues Jason has (arthritic hip) so that bodes well for him making a good recovery.

by **triggercut** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 3:28 am

I know we have a couple of Astros fans here.

If you want to know why your team's future might be pretty bright, have a look at the Cardinals this year (and last). Here, I'll let Lance Berkman tell fans of the team he made great:

"I've been impressed in my short time in this organization with the number of what I would just term 'baseball players' that they've produced. (Daniel) Descalso is that way. (Allen) Craig is that way. (Jon) Jay is that way. Shane Robinson is that way.

"I'd take them in my foxhole any day of the week."

All those guys, today's hero Matt Carpenter (about whom Puma was specifically speaking), and also pitchers Lance Lynn and Jaime Garcia were guys that Jeff Luhnow drafted. Luhnow also pushed hard for the Cardinals to pick up a guy playing A ball in the Padres organization back in 2007. Fellow by the name of David Freese. Folks thought that when the Redbirds traded Jim Edmonds even up for him that it was a salary dump and nothing more. Luhnow saw it differently, obviously.

Now that Luhnow is running the Astros organization, he's going to make good use of draft picks. He's also gonna find guys buried deep in the draft (like Jay and Garcia and M. Carpenter). He's going to trade for guys that other organizations have either given up on or overlooked, and those guys are going to contribute. Cardinals are off to a nice start this year, and I was thinking that it wouldn't have been possible without the talent that Luhnow found for this organization.

Our loss is Houston's gain. I'm glad you guys are headed to the AL. Seriously.

by **Kelric** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 9:40 am

I love that the squirrel is on the ring.

by **triggercut** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 9:53 am

I don't know how a crappy manager like Bobby Valentine still gets jobs, but the nonsense he's created in Boston regarding Youkilis is why I'm thrilled he doesn't manage any team I root for.

1. Valentine shoots off his big mouth and says that Youkilis doesn't seem as "into" the game physically or emotionally as in years past on Boston radio. After a Red Sox win.

2. Youkilis gets the humiliation of being asked about that on live TV in the clubhouse standing with teammates.

3. Pedroia calls out his manager, defends Youkilis, says "We don't do that here, maybe that crap works in Japan..."

4. Youkilis mysteriously scratched from today's lineup in Boston with "groin injury"

5. Angry Youk seen heading to meeting he's demanded with GM Cherington.

Hell of a job, Bobby.

by **Kelric** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:38 am

Ugh.

by **LawBeefaroni** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 11:00 am

"I don't think he's as physically or emotionally into the game as he has been in the past for some reason."

"But [on Saturday against Tampa Bay] it seemed, you know, he's seeing the ball well, got those two walks, got his on-base percentage up higher than his batting average, which is always a good thing, and he'll move on from there."

That's not that bad. Certainly not enough to warrant Pedroia's reaction. It's an admittedly small sample size but Youkilis has looked pretty lost at the plate. Valentine is actually, in his usual weird way, giving Youk an out.

Bobby is crazy, I'm not a huge fan of his (but I love his antics), but that's a bit much. Youk and Pedroia are professionals. Valentine is their boss. Yeah, yeah, unwritten clubhouse rules, war analogies, blah blah, etc. Still, you don't respond to a potential crack in the foundation by ripping it open further.

Bobby may not be a Red Sox by Pedroia's standards but Pedroia isn't a spokesman of the game either. He should have stayed out of it for the good of the team.

You know who has earned the right to say stuff like that? Ortiz. You know who didn't? Ortiz.

by **Dramatist** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 11:16 am

triggercut wrote:I know we have a couple of Astros fans here.

If you want to know why your team's future might be pretty bright, have a look at the Cardinals this year (and last). Here, I'll let Lance Berkman tell fans of the team he made great:

"I've been impressed in my short time in this organization with the number of what I would just term 'baseball players' that they've produced. (Daniel) Descalso is that way. (Allen) Craig is that way. (Jon) Jay is that way. Shane Robinson is that way.

"I'd take them in my foxhole any day of the week."

All those guys, today's hero Matt Carpenter (about whom Puma was specifically speaking), and also pitchers Lance Lynn and Jaime Garcia were guys that Jeff Luhnow drafted. Luhnow also pushed hard for the Cardinals to pick up a guy playing A ball in the Padres organization back in 2007. Fellow by the name of David Freese. Folks thought that when the Redbirds traded Jim Edmonds even up for him that it was a salary dump and nothing more. Luhnow saw it differently, obviously.

Now that Luhnow is running the Astros organization, he's going to make good use of draft picks. He's also gonna find guys buried deep in the draft (like Jay and Garcia and M. Carpenter). He's going to trade for guys that other organizations have either given up on or overlooked, and those guys are going to contribute. Cardinals are off to a nice start this year, and I was thinking that it wouldn't have been possible without the talent that Luhnow found for this organization.

Our loss is Houston's gain. I'm glad you guys are headed to the AL. Seriously.

Enjoy Lance Berkman, he is one of my all time favorite baseball players and I hope he can finish off a hall of fame career in St. Louis.

I have been really impressed with Luhnow in his short time in Houston. Luhnow and the Astros are really making smart roster decisions with an eye on improving the young talent in the organization. The Astros are even kind of fun to watch this year. I know most of the roster is filled with replacement type players but I think that JD Martinez and Jose Altuve could become excellent big leaguers. I'm excited to see what the Astros do in the draft this year.

by **triggercut** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 2:15 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote:
"I don't think he's as physically or emotionally into the game as he has been in the past for some reason."

"But [on Saturday against Tampa Bay] it seemed, you know, he's seeing the ball well, got those two walks, got his on-base percentage up higher than his batting average, which is always a good thing, and he'll move on from there."

That's not that bad. Certainly not enough to warrant Pedroia's reaction. It's an admittedly small sample size but Youkilis has looked pretty lost at the plate. Valentine is actually, in his usual weird way, giving Youk an out.

Bobby is crazy, I'm not a huge fan of his (but I love his antics), but that's a bit much. Youk and Pedroia are professionals. Valentine is their boss. Yeah, yeah, unwritten clubhouse rules, war analogies, blah blah, etc. Still, you don't respond to a potential crack in the foundation by ripping it open further.

Bobby may not be a Red Sox by Pedroia's standards but Pedroia isn't a spokesman of the game either. He should have stayed out of it for the good of the team.

You know who has earned the right to say stuff like that? Ortiz. You know who didn't? Ortiz.

It isn't what he said, it's that he said it and did so to the media. It rocks the boat...as the Red Sox seem to be righting the ship. And whether or not Pedroia should've jumped on those comments, and whether or not Pedroia is the right guy to do so isn't the issue. You're talking about statistical reality in a situation of perceptional reality. Perception, as is so frequently the case, is the reality here. So...if Valentine's comments made Youk angry, and caused Pedroia--perceived as one of the team's vocal leaders--to speak out and made this thing blow up, then he probably shouldn't have made them, because that doesn't help things much.

I'll never forget listening to Bobby's first interview after Steve Phillips acquired Kenny Rogers to shore up a weak Mets rotation in 1999. I think it was Dan Patrick interviewing him, and it went something like this:

DP: "Well Bobby, you've got to be pretty happy that when you needed a #1 starter, your front office went out and got one."

BV: "I don't really like assigning numbers to my starting pitchers. They're all important."

DP: "I understand that, but talk about how important the infusion of a guy like Kenny Rogers can be for a team in a pennant race."

BV: "I don't think he'd be any more or less important than all the guys we've already got here, who are pitching their tails off." (As an aside, quick, name any member of the 1999 Mets starting rotation besides Al Leiter or 40-year-old Orel Hershiser)

DP: "So you don't think that a guy like Kenny Rogers can be a big piece for you in the pennant drive here?

BV: "I don't know. We'll have to see how he does."

Nothing Crazy Bobby said there was particularly inaccurate, and most of it was probably too truthful. But all that said, if you're the GM of the Mets and you spend some trade chips on a front of the rotation starter and then hear your manager tell your fans that he's fairly unexcited about the acquisition, you're ready to hulk smash his office....not to mention how welcome those comments had to make Rogers feel on his return to NYC.

by **LawBeefaroni** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 2:31 pm

triggercut wrote:
It isn't what he said, it's that he said it and did so to the media. It rocks the boat...as the Red Sox seem to be righting the ship. And whether or not Pedroia should've jumped on those comments, and whether or not Pedroia is the right guy to do so isn't the issue. You're talking about statistical reality in a situation of perceptional reality. Perception, as is so frequently the case, is the reality here. So...if Valentine's comments made Youk angry, and caused Pedroia--perceived as one of the team's vocal leaders--to speak out and made this thing blow up, then he probably shouldn't have made them, because that doesn't help things much.

Right, Valentine shouldn't have made the comments. But Pedroia should have kept his mouth shut as well. Pedroia's comments don't illuminate Valentine's faults, they illuminate Pedroia's faults. That's all I'm saying. They're not a validation of any criticism of Valentine. It's just more crap Pedroia brought to the craptable. Or, "then he probably shouldn't have made them, because that doesn't help things much."

The Sox knew what they were getting with Groucho. If Pedroia has a problem with it he should take it up with Cherington and Henry.

In other news, they just lost their annual Patriot's Day game to Tampa, 1-0. 4-hitter by Shields and Rodney.

by **triggercut** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 2:38 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote:
triggercut wrote:
It isn't what he said, it's that he said it and did so to the media. It rocks the boat...as the Red Sox seem to be righting the ship. And whether or not Pedroia should've jumped on those comments, and whether or not Pedroia is the right guy to do so isn't the issue. You're talking about statistical reality in a situation of perceptional reality. Perception, as is so frequently the case, is the reality here. So...if Valentine's comments made Youk angry, and caused Pedroia--perceived as one of the team's vocal leaders--to speak out and made this thing blow up, then he probably shouldn't have made them, because that doesn't help things much.

Right, Valentine shouldn't have made the comments. But Pedroia should have kept his mouth shut as well. Pedroia's comments don't illuminate Valentine's faults, they illuminate Pedroia's faults. That's all I'm saying. They're not a validation of any criticism of Valentine. It's just more crap Pedroia brought to the craptable. Or, "then he probably shouldn't have made them, because that doesn't help things much."

The Sox knew what they were getting with Groucho. If Pedroia has a problem with it he should take it up with Cherington and Henry.

In other news, they just lost their annual Patriot's Day game to Tampa, 1-0. 4-hitter by Shields and Rodney.

I want to see Cody Ross's final AB against Rodney. Olney, Heyman et al were screeching about it on twitter (apparently all 5 pitches to Ross were well outside...but three were called strikes.)

EDIT: eh. They were outside by pitch track, and strike 2 looked high to me if anything...but they were nasty, nasty 97 mph fastballs. Naked eye, they didn't look that bad.

by **J.D.** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 5:31 pm

AL East is separated from first to last, by 1.5 games. Going to be a fun year.

by **LawBeefaroni** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 5:45 pm

J.D. wrote:AL East is separated from first to last, by 1.5 games. Going to be a fun year.

Or just a fun April. :wink:

by **triggercut** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 9:20 pm

I get the feeling that as long as Rick Ankiel can do what he just did tonight, he's going to have a job in major league baseball. Wow!

by **WPD** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:03 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote:
J.D. wrote:AL East is separated from first to last, by 1.5 games. Going to be a fun year.

Or just a fun April.

I think it could be like this for a while, at least until the first week of May!

by **Freezer-TPF-** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:28 pm

triggercut wrote:I get the feeling that as long as Rick Ankiel can do what he just did tonight, he's going to have a job in major league baseball. Wow!

He hit Ramos right in the numbers with that rocket from center and froze the runner at third. Love that guy.

by **Octavious** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 11:18 pm

Mets are now 4-0 against the Braves. Sure I don't have much hope for the season, but they have started off better then anyone has expected. Also Bay made a great catch and hit another home run. Maybe this will be the season where he does somewhat decent. Probably not, but hey you never know. :lol:

by **LawBeefaroni** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 11:39 pm

The White Sox just took a 4-2 lead into the top of the 9th at home. Santiago gave up two solo shots to blow the save. The Sox had a paltry effort in their half of the 9th, I turned the game off in disgust, and they went into the 10th.

I just peeked and it's 10-4 Baltimore in the top of the 10th. Um, wow.

by **triggercut** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 11:55 pm

Ankiel's throw tonight:

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?conte ... 3&c_id=mlb

My favorite Ankiel throws, both from the same game, both in his first full season in the bigs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cOj614ohFU

by **ImLawBoy** » Mon Apr 16, 2012 11:58 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote:The White Sox just took a 4-2 lead into the top of the 9th at home. Santiago gave up two solo shots to blow the save. The Sox had a paltry effort in their half of the 9th, I turned the game off in disgust, and they went into the 10th.

I just peeked and it's 10-4 Baltimore in the top of the 10th. Um, wow.

Marmolian!

by **LawBeefaroni** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 12:07 am

ImLawBoy wrote:
LawBeefaroni wrote:The White Sox just took a 4-2 lead into the top of the 9th at home. Santiago gave up two solo shots to blow the save. The Sox had a paltry effort in their half of the 9th, I turned the game off in disgust, and they went into the 10th.

I just peeked and it's 10-4 Baltimore in the top of the 10th. Um, wow.

Marmolian!

I'd say it was exactly that except it started with 2 solo shots given up by Santiago. Marmol would have given up two runs on 4 walks, 2 Ks, and a HBP.

Then errors did them in. Looking at the box, I only see 1 earned run of 6 given up for Stewart in the 10th. It's a unique, ugly Sox twist.

by **tru1cy** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 5:07 am

I left 0's v. White Sox game at the bottom of the 6th with Arrietta in trouble . Two on with no outs and battling Konerko 3-2 count. Woke up this morning with 10-4 win

If the O's starting rotation can continue producing then I predict a .500 season

by **Freezer-TPF-** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 7:29 am

triggercut wrote:My favorite Ankiel throws, both from the same game, both in his first full season in the bigs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cOj614ohFU

I love the first runner looking around like WTF?

The best thing about an arm like that is that it can save a lot of bases and runs without even having to make a throw, as many runners won't even try it. Great defensive weapon, and his bat has some pop, too. We really need that while Morse is out.

by **Kelric** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 8:59 am

Freezer-TPF- wrote:
triggercut wrote:My favorite Ankiel throws, both from the same game, both in his first full season in the bigs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cOj614ohFU

I love the first runner looking around like WTF?

The best thing about an arm like that is that it can save a lot of bases and runs without even having to make a throw, as many runners won't even try it. Great defensive weapon, and his bat has some pop, too. We really need that while Morse is out.

I remember that game. Incredible throws. ESPN went crazy over them.

by **LawBeefaroni** » Tue Apr 17, 2012 9:41 am

tru1cy wrote:I left 0's v. White Sox game at the bottom of the 6th with Arrietta in trouble . Two on with no outs and battling Konerko 3-2 count. Woke up this morning with 10-4 win If the O's starting rotation can continue producing then I predict a .500 season

If those bats (Wieters, Jones, Reimold) keep breaking out and finally living up to expectations, they'll be a tough team.

by **Exodor** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 9:16 am

This is how bad it's gotten for the Royals.

This one looked more like a victory, so there’s that.

For the first time on this home stand, the Royals led for more than one inning,

That's an awfully low bar.

Rany is not helping.

This is the ninth consecutive season in which the Royals have lost six games in a row by the 14th of May.

It's going to be a long, long season. :grund:

by **triggercut** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 1:20 pm

So while some west coast MLB scribes are asking "What's wrong with Albert Pujols?" because #5 doesn't have any HR yet this season (49 AB), I think a far more telling statistic is this: why isn't Albert Pujols walking anymore?

Last season Albert walked 61 times in 651 plate appearances, which is a rate of walking once every 10.67 times at bat.

His rate in years previous to 2011:

2010: walked every 6.8 times
2009: walked every 6 times
2008: every 6.16 times
2007: every 6.86
2006: every 6.89
2005: every 7.12
etc.

What's obvious is this: up until 2011, Albert Pujols was a phenomenally selective hitter. His lack of strikeouts and high walk rate suggest the obvious: a Hall of Fame-like ability to judge the strike zone and mash pitches within it.

A quick visit to FanGraphs reinforces this. They track how often a guy swings at pitches outside the strike zone. That's abbreviated as O-Swing%, but is frequently referred to as "chase rate"--the rate at which a guy chases pitches out of the zone.

For a sizable portion of his career, Albert Pujols had a ridiculously low chase rate below 20%. In fact, from 2002 through the 2009 season, Albert's average chase rate covering all those seasons was below 20%. That's phenomenal.

In 2007 his O-Swing was 18.3%. In 2008 it jumped to 21.6%. In 2009 it went up again to 22.9%. No biggie. Those are still ridiculously low chase rates.

But they show a trend.

In 2010 Albert's o-swing% really jumped: 27.5%. That's almost mortal.

In 2011: 31.8%. That's...well, that's about what a lot of other great ballplayers put up--guys who don't have 10-year, $250m contracts.

So far in 2012, and again the sample size is small: 44.7% chase rate.

And so I'll say it again: Albert's swing when he was a younger man with better eyes and faster reflexes was a miracle of hand-eye coordination unlike anything we've ever seen. Now though, I think that Albert has to "cheat" a little on his swing, and starts it earlier than he used to, and the result is that he swings at more pitches out of the zone than ever before. Albert is still Albert. Even swinging at pitches outside the zone, he's still going to make contact with far more of them than anyone else out there...but less often is that contact going to be him squaring up a pitch.

I think the guy will hit .300-ish for the Angels, and I think he'll untrack the power and sock 30-35 HR for them. But I also am not sure I expect him to be able to do that 4 years from now, much less 6 or 10.

by **Octavious** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 1:26 pm

I think switching leagues doesn't help him either. He probably hasn't faced a lot of the pitchers he's going up against. Slightly unrelated I now have an urge to look up Vlad Guerrero's chase rate. It has to be crazy high he would swing at anything he could reach. :lol:

Wow talk about timing...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/vlad ... lice-chase

:lol:

*Edit*
Not surprisingly he led the league in that stat when I ran the range from 2006-2012. Never heard of that stat until today, pretty cool.

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?p ... &players=0

by **Exodor** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 1:32 pm

I'm loving the Jamie Moyer story this year - 49 year old pitcher comes back and posts a win for the Rockies.

I've seen all kinds of crazy stats about his long career - for example, Barry Bonds played his entire career and retired for a decade since Jamie's debut, Jamie has been teammates with every non-pitching MVP since 1980, etc.

My favorite?

Jamie has pitched to 8.8% of all players who have ever had an MLB at-bat.

:shock:

by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 1:36 pm

Interesting. IMO he had been on the decline, if you can really call it that, for a few years now but I couldn't say why exactly.

triggercut wrote:And so I'll say it again: Albert's swing when he was a younger man with better eyes and faster reflexes was a miracle of hand-eye coordination unlike anything we've ever seen.

Ted Williams. Well, maybe we've never seen Ted Williams personally but from a "let's sit at the bar and talk about hitters" standpoint I don't think anyone had better hitting skills, including hand-eye coordination. Pujols has 710 strikeouts so far in his career to go with 978 walks. Williams finished with 709 strikeouts and 2021 walks.

by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 1:37 pm

Octavious wrote: Slightly unrelated I now have an urge to look up Vlad Guerrero's chase rate.

I had the exact same urge. :lol:

by **Exodor** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 1:55 pm

The Royals dropped another game last night to make it 7 in a row.

If only I could find a single image that accurately sums up the Royals efforts so far this season.

Thanks, Alex. That will do nicely.

Or, if you're playing in Oakland, Jeff.

by **triggercut** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 2:22 pm

My thoughts on Pujols are based on published interviews and discussions he did and similarly published stuff with former hitting coaches Hal McRae and that late Mitchell Page. They'd all talk about how Albert's swing and approach at the plate was based on him having lightning-quick hands. He could--they all would say--wait longer on a pitch before starting his swing because he had incredibly quick hands, and his swing was basically "throwing his hands" to the ball/location.

I remember thinking at the time that that approach sounded like one that would be tough to continue into older age when reflexes slow, or would require some adjustments based on age.

I think Albert's higher "chase rate" and fewer walks (and diminished power/batting average) are both consequences of making those adjustments.

by **J.D.** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 2:48 pm

Exodor, looking forward to watching my Blue Jays roll into the Royals yard this weekend! :twisted:

Also, Ankiels arm is good, but I'd like to see him do that from 60 feet or less. :wink:

by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 2:52 pm

triggercut wrote:My thoughts on Pujols are based on published interviews and discussions he did and similarly published stuff with former hitting coaches Hal McRae and that late Mitchell Page. They'd all talk about how Albert's swing and approach at the plate was based on him having lightning-quick hands. He could--they all would say--wait longer on a pitch before starting his swing because he had incredibly quick hands, and his swing was basically "throwing his hands" to the ball/location.

I remember thinking at the time that that approach sounded like one that would be tough to continue into older age when reflexes slow, or would require some adjustments based on age.

I think Albert's higher "chase rate" and fewer walks (and diminished power/batting average) are both consequences of making those adjustments.

You made a great case. I'm buying it.

Exodor wrote:
Or, if you're playing in Oakland, Jeff.

Wow. No respect. No respect.

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