I was looking at our stats on offense and I start to think that we are a division contending team NOW offensively speaking. Or are we? http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/team/_/stat/batting/league/nl/sort/OPS/order/true OPS: .734 (5th NL) (League ave .701) SLG: .394 (8th NL) (League ave .386) AVE: .266 (2nd NL) (League ave .249) OBP: .340 (2nd NL) (League ave .315) Runs: 118 (4th NL) ( League ave 100) If we had better pitching, would we really be there???
numbers aren't the problem it is the situational hitting that is. Too many LOB in games they are behind in. They are not getting blown out but sometimes when they lose, they lose close games where there hitting in those situations is poor.
Best batting average, OBP with runners in scoring position, fourth best OPS. So far, the Astros are just having bad luck and should be average.
Is there a stat that basically sums up how good/bad you are at leaving guys on base? Hits + HBP + Walks - RS Or something like that ^^^^ ?
They leave above-average people on base - you can see that simply by seeing that they are #2 in getting people on base, but #4 in runs scored. But the reason for that isn't bad situational hitting - it's just that this team doesn't have much power (#8 in Slugging). Getting people on base involves walks and batting average - two things the Astros are good at. Getting people around the bases involves power - something the Astros aren't very good at. But at the end of the day, they are #5 in OPS, #4 in total bases, and #4 in Runs Scored - so they are doing about what you'd expect given their stats.
The most important stat is obp. If the astros are good at that I will be happy after the crap they had last year.
If OBP is the most important stat we wouldn't be below .500 with the second best OBP in the NL. Astros don't have productive AB's with runners in scoring position (Sac Fly's, advancing a runner to third with less than 2 outs, etc.). But really that's just a product of a young team, they will develop and learn this with more AB's. Astros have lost so many close games this year.
Astros have plenty of productive ABs with runners in scoring position as they are 4th in RBIs among other stats mentioned earlier. They just don't hit homers. They have average pitching. They've had some bad luck. The Astros have been much better than I expected.
I feel obligated to post in this thread because of my moniker. Anyways, Astros lack the 'swagger' and experience to really keep those numbers afloat.
thanks for that insight. =/ they're rebuilding,and they're doing a nice job at it. Baseball is unpredictable. each game is different but the patience some of our young players have developed in the batter's box is quite jaw dropping. Swagger...jaja, Altuve begs to differ. It's nice seeing this team that was supposed to be 0-300 this season playing competitive baseball.
Although the start for this team has been a pleasant surprise, I don't think they have the experience needed in the clubhouse to sustain this over a whole season. All these guys are young and my feeling is that the dog days of summer in July and August will catch up with them. That being said , I believe they will end up being a middle of the pack team in all offensive categories. Temper your expectations folks, they are at best a couple of years away from being a true contender. Give these young guys more ABs and maybe pick up a decent power hitter or two in FA and the Astros should be fine and contending in the next 2-3 years. If they win 75-80 games this year I will be very happy. anything more than that will be a bonus.
A lack of swagger was just brought up in a baseball thread.......... Swagger is not an actual thing in baseball, just by the nature of the game. No one is going to take over a game with their swagger. Leave that talk to the basketball threads please.
An overreaction would consist of him making a prediction based on this small sample size. All he did was state a fact....our offensive stats right now are strong in the NL and easily competitive in the our division. And yes, if we did have better pitching, we would be at the top. Is it just a hot start? Maybe/probably. But it isn't an overreaction to just state facts....
"Driving batters in" is not a separate skill, a better offense automatically drives in more runs. Clutch hitting has never been demonstrated to be more than random variation, aka luck. I think the Astros are overperforming a bit right now, offensively. It's an encouraging sign that they're hitting so well though. Altuve looks like a legit player, Lowrie is playing at an excellent level, JD is drawing a lot of walks but is in a bit of a slump. Other guys like Schafer and Castro are doing passable jobs.
When statistics are ran on clutch hitting, there is no significant difference between players who are considered "clutch" and those who are not when in pressured situations in games. Correct. But you are confusing "clutch hitting" with RBI's and a player's average with RISP. Some players are better at getting runners in than others...and it doesn't just depend on their batting average and/or opportunities. Actually, I shouldn't say "better" but that some players take a better approach and/or don't lose their cool when there are ducks on the pond when compared to other players....that is real.
This team had 400 walks last year this year they are on pace for 600. If we can improve the pitching this team can content next year.
Thought id continue our outfield productivity discussion from the Marlins thread here....... I suppose the thing that I am just now coming to grips with is that at the end of last year, I thought our outfield was one of our strengths. But as things are turning out, the opposite may be true. Our strengths for 2012 seem to be our relief pitching and infield. Not what I would have thought as the 2011 season was wrapping up. Of course the trade for Jed Lowrie had something to do with this