Somebody asking for a plan and better preparation plus team AB's when they are needed meaning moving the runners or realising that pitcher has thrown 7 balls in a row and even walk gives a chance to next hitter to face new pitcher from BP or more tired current pitcher under more pressure. The answer can't be this half blind do you understand every BP hand is 100mph now so no help to get to BP and also every stat says early damage is the best and we don't have more than 1 Paredes and agressive hitter is't better as passive you hear me. This is just simplistic bs and excuses for the team for not trying anything different. And I don't mean putting hands higher, stance or tap/step/load crap. Every hitter tinkers those. I mean the boring work studying and putting your mind into it. Dodgers bounced Bellinger because he was't ready to work on his swing how they wanted. Muncy got warning couple of seasons ago tenure is over if he does't improve the D on 3rd. Some teams demand and then support as well as they can. We are in era of "it is what it is". The argument should't be passive slap hitters v agressive game winning slugging. It should be having the info and working hard using it to improve individual and team performance. I have called for new hitting coaches but even if the new ones would be world beaters, that does't guarantee players buy into it and listen and follow with hard work. That might require Joe growing balls and putting names in the lineup that are ready to work, be the best they can be and help team win. I don't mind losing couple of season if we build different core and hard working culture where players are accountable to manager, FO and each others. -Make sure we have all the newest tools and analytics and everybody is either using them or are at good and hot and don't wanna interrupt working thingy. -Everybody understands this is not Colorado, if they are only after some stat to get decent bag....trade them if needed. The job is to help team win. -Try to make sure every player knows his own strentghs and weaknesses and have a plan to lean on to other and make other less liability. Either aproach, swing, zone control/ where and what to even try to hit/ physical condition, launch angle ...anything. -Stop using word passive. It's called patience and use it even sometimes. -Have proper hitting meetings and pregame work for oppo pitchers every game. Toronto was s*it slap hitting team year ago. They now take good AB's and have had individual plan for every hitter for a year now which they practise hard and try to execute. The lineup is crap for contender and playing Bichette at SS, and BP being lousy does't help but they work hard. That is what you see and how they got better this year. https://jayscentre.com/forums/topic/97982-dave-popkins-appreciation-thread/ " I am mostly pleased by the reports of the Trajekt and iPitch machines and Popkins wanting and implementing those. So not so much the results this year but just the information supporting the idea that the Jays are finally not behind the times on offensive game prep, which you can thank Popkins for at least in part. " Im feeling very positive that we are making changes. If the new hitting coaches are the likes of Biggio and Bagwell, we might be going even further back in this department.
Except he doesn’t have a .556 OPS on the first pitch - it was over .800 last year. Want to know what his OPS was after an 0-1 count? .598. His OPS of .627 after a 1-0 count wasn’t much better either. Obviously, you can’t walk on the first pitch either so that’s a VERY significant difference. His slug is over .500 on the first pitch. This is why what you’re talking about isn’t correct. I looked into the data awhile back on why they were swinging first pitch and put a detailed analysis on here in one of the threads. I’m not saying the hitting coaches deserved to not be fired but there was logical reasoning behind why most of our hitters were so aggressive. You’re asking guys to work ABs that are incapable of working ABs.
I apologize. I read the split wrong. But it actually emphasizes my point even better. In PAs where Dubon swung at the first pitch = .564 OPS In PAs where he took the first pitch = .697 OPS That "over .800" is only when that first pitch is put in play which was 64 times in 151 ABs, or 42% that hexswung at the first pitch. The other 58% of the time he swung and missed or fouled it off. And my point of not swinging is at least partially based on the pitcher throwing pitches outside of the zone that do not result in good contact or likely hits. It's not about the first pitch. It's about how the entire PA ends up based on whether you swing at the first pitch or not.
Where are you getting these splits? I don’t see how that adds up considering his OPS is well below .697 for both after 0-1 and 1-0 counts. How is his OPS so much higher when he took the first pitch then? Edit: I found it. That’s a tough one to explain. My point still stands though - there needs to be controlled aggression on the first pitch. Just taking it even if it’s a strike is not going to result in better results. The difference in results between after an 0-1 and 1-0 count is significant for most hitters.
If they had the mentality of first pitch they need to do something... and they didn't... then that could filter into their heads the rest of the AB. That's a huge cause for concern right there.
baseball reference is the most thorough ones I've found. They differentiate b/t, for example, "on 1st pitch" and "after 1st pitch" and do it by count as well.
Yeah, that’s what I was using. I was just asking him because the math didn’t seem to make sense but he was correct.
Here is my psychotic off-season plan that will offend everyone. Trade Jeremy Pena, Jake Meyers, and Walter Janek to the Yankees for Cam Schlittler, Camilo Doval, and Spencer Jones. Trade Christian Walker and 14 million to the Dbacks for Ryan Thompson. Trade Bryce Matthews, Ethan Pecko, and Shay Whitcomb to the Marlins for Sandy Alcantara and 4 million dollars. Sign Josh Naylor for 5 years 108 million resign Caratini for 2 years 16 million Non-tender Luis Garcia, Jesus Sanchez, Chas McCormick, and Taylor Trammell Lineup: Paredes 3B Correa SS Alvarez DH Altuve 2B Naylor 1B Diaz C Cole CF Jones LF Smith RF Bench: Dubon, Urias, Melton, Caratini Rotation: Brown Schlittler Alcantara Javier Arrighetti/Blubaugh/Alexander/Ulolla/McCullers (LOL.. he's getting cut during spring training) Bullpen: Hader, Abreu, Doval, Thompson, King, Okert, Sousa, De los Santos/Ort/Murray
Correa's not playing even semi-regular SS again, so give us a revision to this plan (which ain't all that terrible)
I realize Correa at SS is the flaw in my plan but I didn't like the other options which were including Volpe in the trade, or having Dubon at SS regularly (gross). Moving Paredes to 1st and not signing Naylor would be part of a tweak to the plan. SS would still be the issue.
Yeah, CC pretty much made it clear that he has no desire nor the ability physically to play SS except as a fill-in So...Redfish Plan B it is. I'm absolutely looking forward to see what ya got next
Why you gotta throw the Horns at me? You son of a b!tch. I'm serious...I want to see your next set of ideas (like I said, the first weren't bad at all). I typically take a break from baseball after the WS and get interested again around the winter meetings and then again later, but that's just me.
I'm watching the playoffs so I have baseball on my mind. Once the World Series is over I will dip out until the winter meetings. I will probably come up with some other ideas for the off-season as I watch the Brewers tonight or during the ALCS the next couple days.
Oh look.. Longhorn fans crawling out of their bunkers after last week. Think ya'll will be ranked again? Actually, I do root for the Longhorns. I just like poking fun at Buck. I don't really have a college team that I feel a significant connection to. Mostly I root for good games but we can't have Oklahoma winning anything. I did go to Ole Miss for a little while but something happened in September of 2001 and it changed my path Anyway.. back to the Astros. Watching these playoffs... I feel like the Astros need 2 starters.
These are on baseball reference. And we agree that the batters frequently need the freedom to swing at the first pitch. However there are multiple ABs every game where it simply makes no sense. What I want is a manager who does something when it makes sense to. When a pitcher is having trouble throwing strikes don't help him out. When a below average hitter is up be willing to let the pitcher bury himself. Don't let him off the hook by swinging early and at balls. If he gets out what have they lost? He was most likely getting out anyway.
Not bad, except the Pena part. Correa is our 3b for the rest of his contract. If you trade Pena you will need to get an MLB ready SS as part of the returning package.
