FanShot
10 months ago >by thebigtizzle
- Has #5 reached a statistical point where the Angels are batting a man short/conceding the at-bat as an out?
- If not, when would that milestone/threshold occur?
- If so, what is the cumulative impact over games (Is this expressed in runs or wins?)
- What would the most basic replacement catcher provide as a net positive?
- Are forward/slashes cool?
your mom
would be an improvement / over mathis
Rev Halofan - July 25, 2011
Trust me
she can use a bat.
thebigtizzle - July 25, 2011
So you want to know Jeff Mathis's WAVE?
Wins Above Vacuum Expectation, i.e. the value a warm body provides relative to purely empty space.
The slashes depend on how you feel about Windows and Unix.
Suboptimal - July 25, 2011
Track down Max Tegmark for me. I'm curious to know if there is an alternate universe where Jeff Mathis is a baseball god.
Mayheminthehood - July 25, 2011
He's a weird dude
He’d probably say yes, actually. I wouldn’t want to live in that universe, though, because the point of “alternate baseball” would be to either strike out or pop-up every time you came to the plate, and runners steal outfields instead of bases.
Suboptimal - July 25, 2011
If Mathis continues batting right at the .200 level he has maintained for the last 6 years,
And an average catcher hits .240 (as they are this season), he costs us a hit every 25 at bats vs an “average” catcher.
Balls and Strikes - July 25, 2011
he seems much worse
much worse than that
Rev Halofan - July 25, 2011
yeah, it does, but .240 is pretty bad in itself
Balls and Strikes - July 25, 2011
Sosh was interviewed a little while ago and actually implied that, yes,
he does believe that a baseball offense can survive the drop in production from a single slot in the batting order. In the National League, that slot is the pitcher’s. In the AL, since we have a DH to hit for the pitcher, the manager can assign that drop to any other position player.
Sosh’s reasoning is that, since Mathis is so Premium on defense and worth so many runs saved, the team can absorb a deficiency in the bat he brings.
Ok, that’s his theory. (Not mine. Not ours, of course.) But what can be discerned from the information that IS available is that this theory is nothing but a wet noodle lost within Sosh’s brainpan.
First of all, no other team in the AL is required to sacrifice an offensive slot in the lineup. So while Sosh is happy to roll out 8 offensive contributors each game (in a perfect world!), he matches up against teams which roll out NINE. So over time, this team plays on an unlevel field, and it is Sosh with his thumb pushing down on one corner.
Second, the one piece of data that Sosh confesses to be using (CERA) has been well-proven to be a totally worthless piece of crap and predominantly the credit of whomever throws the ball to any catcher.
Third, we know from direct quotes out of Sosh AND Reagins that they absolutely reject every available piece of empirical data that the rest of the baseball world has learned would reveal Mathis to be one of the worst defenders behind the plate. Which means they both are blind to the reality that Mathis is not the Greate Secret Weapon Of Defense which they use to inflict massive damage upon the balance of MLB.
Stirrups - July 25, 2011
Let's add to that
Bourjos, while we all love him, is also a near-offensive-zero in our line up. Yes, he looks like Ricky Henderson hitting next to Jeffy and his defense actually IS premium, but that doesn’t change the fact that on any given night the Angels start two guys who you reasonably expect to each go 0-3. With no other hitters in this line-up who we can say are comfortably above average, it’s no wonder this offense is so pathetic.
dmhead - July 26, 2011
Have to disagree on Bourjos being a near-offensive zero
prior to his injury, he had been hitting over .300 for a month
SoCalWine - July 26, 2011
Yeah, I'm not trying to put down PeBo
But a month of hot hitting still doesn’t move him from the bottom of the order. The bottom line is if he didn’t play game-changing defense he’d still be in AAA. His glove and modest contributions on offense make him a valuable part to this team. However, this team does not have nearly enough offensive depth to carry two glove-only players on a day to day basis, especially when one of those players really doesn’t have that great of a glove and hits worse than half the pitchers he catches.
dmhead - July 26, 2011
I'd give P-Bo some time
he’s proven he can drive the baseball at the major league level and, yes, he directly impacts games with his glove. The score would have already been 3-2 when Downs came in if not for Borjous. I don’t quite see him as a zero in the lineup. Especially not to the extent of #5. But what’s really interesting is the idea that all players go through slumps, so having #5 ensures that you’re always a minimum of a man short.
thebigtizzle - July 26, 2011
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