It's a strange thought...On a better team, would they be talking about Pence as an early MVP candidate?
are the best ones to go to. Out of work and spending the day at the park? How much better could that be?
Lyles has looked great today so far, including in parts of the 1st. He got hurt on on a bad pitch that drifted over the plate but has looked outstanding for the most part outside of that. In some ways, I'm more impressed with what I've seen today than in his 1st start. He didn't let that mistake phase him at all.
Pence is having a great season - for him. But relatively speaking, not even close to MVP level. He's 15th in the NL in OPS and nowhere close to the top in HRs, Runs, or Steals. He is #4 in AVG and RBI's, but that's about all. At the top of the list, you'd have Kemp, Berkman, and Fielder. After that, you have Votto and Braun. And then Pence would probably be in a mix with about 10 other players like Stanton, Bruce, McCutchen, Upton, etc in a 3rd tier.
Maybe, coming into the game he was 4th in hitting and RBIs while playing good defense. It's an interesting situation for Pence, on this team he is rotting away but put him on the Sox, yanks or Phils and he'd be a cult hero. I would love to see what Matt Downs could do with the everyday job at 2nd once Kepp is dealt.
According to what I'm seeing on Fangraphs and BR, Pence has been below average to bad defensively this season, depending on which metric you look at. It's hard to use your eyes to make judgments on defensive play. You remember a couple of highlight reel plays that can affect your impression. Or conversely, you remember a bad play or two that can have a similar effect. Stats for a partial year aren't very meaningful either but it's hard to argue that he's been good and I believe he struggled last season as well by most advanced metrics. http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=rf&stats=fld&lg=nl&qual=y&type=1&season=2011&month=0&season1=2011&ind=0 http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/2011-specialpos_rf-fielding.shtml#players_standard_fielding::15 As a hitter, I still wish he could improve his plate discipline a little bit more but he probably is what he is at this point. Nevertheless, it's fun to watch him racking up hits right now.
Stros should really consider moving Wally up to the 3 hole and moving Pence to the 5 spot. Wally just gets on base a ton and Hunter is becoming a nice RBI machine.
See, I would argue that the defensive stats still leave a lot to be desired and it's hard to make judgments on defensive play without your eyes. If you're just looking at highlight plays or bloopers to form an opinion, you don't know anything about defense anyway. When I watch Hunter play, I think, "Dude you still can't run straight to the fly ball, after these years?" and "You should really take lessons on how to throw a baseball." I note his speed makes up for some of the deficiencies, he has decent hands and generally catches or stops what he gets to, and I think, "average to just below average on D".
I should have used the word "memory" instead of "eyes" but your point is still a very good one. I didn't mean to say that you shouldn't use your eyes (or memory) at all. And I totally agree with your assessment on Pence's defense, particularly about his reads and routes. I'd say he's a below average RFer overall.
Did anybody catch the Bourn error? If so, could you describe it to me. I'm trying to find the highlight on MLB.com.
I couldn't find the Bourn error but I just saw the 2B after it. Right on topic, Pence very much could have prevented that 5th run. It looked like a bad read and route. It would have been an above average play but nothing spectacular.
Tags called the Bourn error a "tough chance" but no description. Pence did throw a runner out at home, although all indictations were that he was safe.
Brocail just made a mound visit. I think the conversation went like this: Brocail: "Hey guys, so what would Arnie have told you do in this situation?" The players answer. Brocail: "Okay, yeah... that's what I was gonna say. Do that. Good luck."
Man oh man... the ball bounced off the 3B about 10 feet away but he had time to get to it and throw Lee out at 1st for the sweep. After it bounced that far away from him, I didn't even think he'd try to make the throw. When he decided to make the throw, I figured even Lee would beat it out easily and we'd have men on the corners with Wallace up. 20 games under .500.
