Perlozzo was just awful at 3B, so Sammy can't be any worse, right?
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; WF Center 10/21/13; WF Center 10/22/13; Baltimore 10/27/13; WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
ALSO - apparently the Phils have reached out to Jermaine Dye. I don't understand how he didn't have a job last year after his 2009 season, which was decent. If he can still play, I think he could be the best value for a platoon with Brown.
dye - ugh
I think it's hilarious that samuel is in the phils wall of fame. the history of this franchise is horrid
Everybody thinks anybody were horrible at third base. Part of it is a product of this ballpark. Perlozzo wasn't horrible. He was a ton better than Dancy or Smith. Dancy was the absolute worst.
If the problem we're talking about is first and third base coaches and think they'll be the biggest hump to hurdle to getting to the World Series, then I'm absolutely ecstatic. We'll be fine.
It's funny how we lose Werth, but I guarantee our offensive numbers are better next year than this past season.
Downfall of a Goliath
Bill Baer | Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 9:47AM
Ryan Howard has long been viewed as weak to left-handed pitching. In comparison to his production against right-handers, that is largely true. The truth is that he is a slightly above-average hitter against southpaws, ranking in the 69th percentile with a .359 wOBA in 2010.
Still, the New York Yankees neutralized the Phillies in the 2009 World Series by making heavy use of Damaso Marte, causing Howard to strike out in 13 of his 23 at-bats. The Cincinnati Reds followed suit in the '10 NLDS using a quartet of lefties as Howard struck out five times in 11 AB. And, of course, the World Series champion San Francisco Giants allowed Howard to become familiar with lefties Javier Lopez and Jeremy Affeldt, striking him out 12 times in 22 AB.
If you are keeping score at home, that is a grand total of 30 strikeouts in 56 at-bats, a 53.4 percent strikeout rate in his last three playoff series.
Howard is under contract for one more year before his five-year, $125 million extension kicks in. Phillies fans are worrying that the slugger is declining much sooner than anticipated.
2010 was rough for Howard. Aside from missing two weeks with a sprained left ankle, he finished the year with by far his lowest ISO (.229 compared to a .293 career average) and his .367 wOBA was two one-thousandths of a point from being a career low. Following four consecutive years of 45+ HR and 136+ RBI the respective 31 and 108 output is a disappointment.
The surprise, at least in the regular season, was that Howard did not decline against lefties. In fact, he improved! His .358 wOBA against lefties outpaced his career .329 average. By process of elimination, Howard must have declined against right-handers -- and he did, significantly. His career .424 wOBA against right-handers is head-and-shoulders above his .372 output in 2010.
Baseball is a great game because it is impossible to achieve optimal strategy. As your opponent makes adjustments to you, you make adjustments to those adjustments, and so on. Lefties threw Howard a bunch of low-and-away sliders, so the first baseman started to look for those pitches more. He was crushing fastballs from right-handers, so those pitchers threw him more soft stuff.
In 2008, one in every two pitches thrown by a right-hander was something hard -- particularly four-seam fastballs. That figure dropped to 47 percent in '09 and 42 percent in '10.
The following heat map displays the fly ball distance on soft stuff thrown by right-handed pitchers in each of the past three seasons. Two things are apparent on the graph: right-handers have become much more willing to challenge Howard inside, and that Howard became noticeably weaker against pitches on the outer portion of the plate -- perhaps the latter as a function of the former.
Ryan Howard's fly ball distance vs. RH soft pitches
The following heat map shows the fly ball distance on hard stuff thrown by right-handers from 2008-10. Notice that Howard's coverage of the plate -- particularly the inner portion -- seems to have vanished.
Ryan Howard's fly ball distance vs. RH hard pitches
It is particularly the hard stuff that pitchers have been using inside on Howard. This could be an indication that Howard's bat speed slowed; that they doubt his ability to turn around on an inside fastball.
If that is the case, the large extension awarded to Howard by Phillies GM Ruben Amaro may become the franchise's biggest mistake before it even starts.
pete orr, dane sardinha, juan samuel, and now this guy I've never heard of. and possibly jermaine dye. now I see why they had to raise ticket prices :?
The Phillies signed right-handed reliever Eddie Bonine, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The 29-year-old posted a 4.63 ERA in 68 innings for the Tigers last year with 3.4 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9. The Tigers made a push to bring Bonine back on a minor league deal before the Phillies made a better offer, according to MLB.com's Jason Beck
Is Chase Utley Really Declining?
Posted by Paul Boye, Thu, November 11, 2010 05:05 PM
Spurred by Bill Baer’s Wednesday post on Baseball Analytics discussing Ryan Howard’s apparent decline, I started thinking about whether Chase Utley may be facing the same fate already.
The harsh reality of an aging core is one no front office or fanbase ever really wants to deal with, but that time has arrived for the Phillies. Assuming Domonic Brown starts the year in right field as Jayson Werth’s replacement, and no other changes are made to the starting eight position players, Brown will be the only starter under 30 on Opening Day 2011. Raul Ibanez will turn 39 in June. Placido Polanco is 35. Jimmy Rollins and Carlos Ruiz will be 32, and joining them will be Utley, following a season in which Chase added “surgically-repaired thumb” to his list of ailments.
Is age necessarily a forebear for poor performance? Not really. One hundred thirty-six players have hit at least 100 homers after turning 32, and a guy with a skill set like Utley’s – compact swing, good discipline – is likely to age pretty well, assuming good health.
What’s got me curious, however, is the notion that Utley is on the decline. Did he have a good postseason? No, I’m not sure anyone will argue that for very long. His defense was a little shaky and he hit just .212/.325/.333 in his 40 playoff plate appearances, but people seem to forget that Utley’s September/early October was much better over a bigger stretch of PAs. Chase hit .306/.420/.491 with five homers and 10 extra-base hits in 131 PAs in the season’s final month-plus.
Let’s take a look at Utley the same way Mr. Baer did in his article, by utilizing the ever-wonderful tools provided by the folks at Baseball Analytics. Hopefully, we’ll be able to see some data that supports either side of the decline argument. To start, the following three graphics are maps of Utley’s SLG against “hard” pitches – basically any pitch around 85 MPH or faster – from 2008, 2009 and 2010.
On the top row, we see 2008 and 2009’s slugging heat maps, with 2010 nestled below. It seems that, while Chase still handles hard pitches down and in, his overall plate coverage seems to have diminished. Pitches on the outer half weren’t driven for nearly as many extra-base hits in 2010.
Let’s put this concretely: in 2008, Utley slugged .768 with a 24.2 percent line drive rate on those hard pitches on the outer half. In 2009, he slugged .855, but with a greatly decreased 16.5 percent line drive rate. What really gets interesting is that, in 2010, Utley’s slugging dropped to “just” .554, but his line drive rate soared to 23.3 percent despite that.
We could simply be dealing with a sample disparity. Through all three seasons, there were no great fluctuations between Utley’s swing rate and contact rate for those hard, outer-half pitches. He did put more of those pitches in play in 2010, but the increase in line drive rate dilutes the argument for weaker contact made, somewhat.
It appears the answer isn’t in Utley’s success against hard pitches, but soft pitches, especially changeups and sliders. In 2008, Utley slugged .511 against the change. In 2009, he had a .404 SLG, and in 2010, that number dropped to .344, far below what’s expected of Chase. A large part of that could be due to a decrease in BABIP with those pitches (.364 to .358 to .250), especially since Utley is, again, still hitting line drives.
As for sliders, it seems Utley’s kryptonite is a slider from…a righty? Chase hit just .188/.325/.406, with a .316 BABIP, against sliders from righties. Compare that to 2009 (.298/.377/.511, .467 BABIP) and we have our biggest drop-off of any pitch’s stats from 2009 to 2010. Again, part of that could be BABIP fueled and could reverse in 2011 with no extra adjustment from Utley, though he did strike out more than 30 percent of the time against sliders in both years. This is the closest I’ve come to evidence supporting some sort of dramatic decline.
Graphically, though, Utley seems to be handling RHP sliders where they’re pitched the most.
The sliders that catch the plate are handled rather easily, and those that miss outside the zone aren’t often put in play (as expected). The sliders that do dive down and in on the black, however, do seem to pose a bit of an issue. The lack of color on the in play map tells us that Utley either takes those pitches or doesn’t make good contact, but only 25 pitches found that red/yellow spot on the inside black, not nearly enough to be truly problematic (Utley saw 154 total sliders from righties in 2010, so only 16 percent of the sliders Utley saw hit that spot).
The conclusion here is unclear. The numbers clash and conflict across the board, and there’s no clear pattern like the one Mr. Baer found with Howard. Hard stuff doesn’t really do the trick, changeup struggles seem BABIP fueled and without any particular major flaw on Utley’s part, and the closest thing we have to a definitive answer (the slider) doesn’t really feel definitive enough to shoulder the full weight of this argument.
I’m wondering if I’m dealing with a red herring. For all we know, these numbers could simply be year-to-year fluctuation based on luck. Unfortunately, the data runs out in 2008, so expanded samples aren’t possible. What are we left with, then? It’s tough to say. Every point of data seems counterbalanced, and there’s no true lean in any direction.
All this really tells me is that Utley may simply be susceptible to the effect of aging, with hip and thumb surgeries certainly not helping the cause. So, perhaps he is declining, but that decline certainly isn’t dramatic or alarming. Every player with decline at some point in their careers, and Chase Utley is no exception, but there doesn’t seem to be any imminent collapse around the corner for Utley, at least as far as these numbers go, and I would expect him to have another Chase-esque year in 2011.
the last paragraph of the utley analysis sums it up for me. not much to worry about. howard on the other hand...
8 errors in 24 playoff games is not something to ignore. as for his offense let's hope it's not the hip and he comes back strong next year. this team has played so many games over the 3 years that age may catch up quicker than other teams.
Saw on The 700 Level that the Phils are close to resigning Contreras to a 2 year deal for around 5 mil.
done deal. apparently one of those asian LH relievers is next.
also nice to see sandberg brought on to manage LHV. Hopefully he is the heir apparent to the dummy manager
I was reading that Chuck's got carte blanche until whenever he wants to retire, but that his successor will definitely come from within the organization. You guess it - Mark Parent.
Yeah, apparently they're looking at the dude from the Mets right, either the Takahashi - or whatever his name is - or, who I would like, Feliciano.
Saw on The 700 Level that the Phils are close to resigning Contreras to a 2 year deal for around 5 mil.
done deal. apparently one of those asian LH relievers is next.
also nice to see sandberg brought on to manage LHV. Hopefully he is the heir apparent to the dummy manager
I was reading that Chuck's got carte blanche until whenever he wants to retire, but that his successor will definitely come from within the organization. You guess it - Mark Parent.
Yeah, apparently they're looking at the dude from the Mets right, either the Takahashi - or whatever his name is - or, who I would like, Feliciano.
I don't really know much about those 2 LHs. I think feliciano had a shitty year though. and he's got a lot of mileage on him. I'd be careful with him.
I'd love to see downs or fuentes, but they might be out of the phils price range
done deal. apparently one of those asian LH relievers is next.
also nice to see sandberg brought on to manage LHV. Hopefully he is the heir apparent to the dummy manager
I was reading that Chuck's got carte blanche until whenever he wants to retire, but that his successor will definitely come from within the organization. You guess it - Mark Parent.
Yeah, apparently they're looking at the dude from the Mets right, either the Takahashi - or whatever his name is - or, who I would like, Feliciano.
I don't really know much about those 2 LHs. I think feliciano had a shitty year though. and he's got a lot of mileage on him. I'd be careful with him.
I'd love to see downs or fuentes, but they might be out of the phils price range
I know Downs is a Type A, and I never really saw what is so great about him, and what about Fuentes? He's at least a B right? I'd go for that, but don't know if he'd wanna set up instead of having a chance to close again.
All I know is Feliciano always had our number, especially The Guy With The Hole In His Swing Against Lefties, and has a rubber arm. Maybe he could at least get in #6's ear to let him know how most pitchers work him - if he doesn't know by now.
I know Downs is a Type A, and I never really saw what is so great about him, and what about Fuentes? He's at least a B right? I'd go for that, but don't know if he'd wanna set up instead of having a chance to close again.
All I know is Feliciano always had our number, especially The Guy With The Hole In His Swing Against Lefties, and has a rubber arm. Maybe he could at least get in #6's ear to let him know how most pitchers work him - if he doesn't know by now.
I think the phils are more likely to sign a type A guy because they will get extra picks when the Beard leaves. Type B guys don't require forfeiting picks.
I don't know much about downs, but I think he's a guy that gets RH and LH out. So I don't think he's a specialist per say.
Fuentes is dirty vs lefties. He's also got closer experience so he could step in if lidge goes down again (though I wouldn't want him as a long term closer).
we'll see...amaro has been pretty good about giving these pen guys one or two year deals
My going out on a limb bold statement of the decade in which the city of Philadelphia would become a scene out of "The Warriors" - Eagles win Super Bowl, Flyers win Stanley Cup, Phils win World Series = the World ends.
Saw on The 700 Level that the Phils are close to resigning Contreras to a 2 year deal for around 5 mil.
done deal. apparently one of those asian LH relievers is next.
also nice to see sandberg brought on to manage LHV. Hopefully he is the heir apparent to the dummy manager
I was reading that Chuck's got carte blanche until whenever he wants to retire, but that his successor will definitely come from within the organization. You guess it - Mark Parent.
Yeah, apparently they're looking at the dude from the Mets right, either the Takahashi - or whatever his name is - or, who I would like, Feliciano.
you can take feliciano all you want, he sucks. career era of 3.31 and whip of 1.372 is someone i def want.
Ron: I just don't feel like going out tonight
Sammi: Wanna just break up?
you can take feliciano all you want, he sucks. career era of 3.31 and whip of 1.372 is someone i def want.
And what's wrong with a career 3.31 ERA? All I know is the dude's got a rubber arm and has lead the league - or somewhere there about - the past three years in appearances, has a high K/9 and a low HR/9. That's fine with me.
you can take feliciano all you want, he sucks. career era of 3.31 and whip of 1.372 is someone i def want.
And what's wrong with a career 3.31 ERA? All I know is the dude's got a rubber arm and has lead the league - or somewhere there about - the past three years in appearances, has a high K/9 and a low HR/9. That's fine with me.
the mets throw him out there every game cause he's the only decent reliever they've had in the past 4 years. eventually that arm is gonna go.
Ron: I just don't feel like going out tonight
Sammi: Wanna just break up?
Hamels and Oswalt as well in the top 10 of voting. Cannot wait for next season.
Yeah... I can
Heyyyyy...buck up there, buddy. Things are actually starting to look a bit up in Flushing. Hey, I want the days where the shit talking can go back and forth equally just as much as you do.
Also, spectacular playoff performance (although a little bad luck in Game 1 vs. Giants, it happens).
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; WF Center 10/21/13; WF Center 10/22/13; Baltimore 10/27/13; WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
Comments
Perlozzo was just awful at 3B, so Sammy can't be any worse, right?
WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
i like the move. but i don't think perlozzo was awful. steve smith was awful. perlozzo was pretty bad during the playoffs though.
dye - ugh
I think it's hilarious that samuel is in the phils wall of fame. the history of this franchise is horrid
If the problem we're talking about is first and third base coaches and think they'll be the biggest hump to hurdle to getting to the World Series, then I'm absolutely ecstatic. We'll be fine.
It's funny how we lose Werth, but I guarantee our offensive numbers are better next year than this past season.
Downfall of a Goliath
Bill Baer | Wednesday, November 10, 2010 at 9:47AM
Ryan Howard has long been viewed as weak to left-handed pitching. In comparison to his production against right-handers, that is largely true. The truth is that he is a slightly above-average hitter against southpaws, ranking in the 69th percentile with a .359 wOBA in 2010.
Still, the New York Yankees neutralized the Phillies in the 2009 World Series by making heavy use of Damaso Marte, causing Howard to strike out in 13 of his 23 at-bats. The Cincinnati Reds followed suit in the '10 NLDS using a quartet of lefties as Howard struck out five times in 11 AB. And, of course, the World Series champion San Francisco Giants allowed Howard to become familiar with lefties Javier Lopez and Jeremy Affeldt, striking him out 12 times in 22 AB.
If you are keeping score at home, that is a grand total of 30 strikeouts in 56 at-bats, a 53.4 percent strikeout rate in his last three playoff series.
Howard is under contract for one more year before his five-year, $125 million extension kicks in. Phillies fans are worrying that the slugger is declining much sooner than anticipated.
2010 was rough for Howard. Aside from missing two weeks with a sprained left ankle, he finished the year with by far his lowest ISO (.229 compared to a .293 career average) and his .367 wOBA was two one-thousandths of a point from being a career low. Following four consecutive years of 45+ HR and 136+ RBI the respective 31 and 108 output is a disappointment.
The surprise, at least in the regular season, was that Howard did not decline against lefties. In fact, he improved! His .358 wOBA against lefties outpaced his career .329 average. By process of elimination, Howard must have declined against right-handers -- and he did, significantly. His career .424 wOBA against right-handers is head-and-shoulders above his .372 output in 2010.
Baseball is a great game because it is impossible to achieve optimal strategy. As your opponent makes adjustments to you, you make adjustments to those adjustments, and so on. Lefties threw Howard a bunch of low-and-away sliders, so the first baseman started to look for those pitches more. He was crushing fastballs from right-handers, so those pitchers threw him more soft stuff.
In 2008, one in every two pitches thrown by a right-hander was something hard -- particularly four-seam fastballs. That figure dropped to 47 percent in '09 and 42 percent in '10.
The following heat map displays the fly ball distance on soft stuff thrown by right-handed pitchers in each of the past three seasons. Two things are apparent on the graph: right-handers have become much more willing to challenge Howard inside, and that Howard became noticeably weaker against pitches on the outer portion of the plate -- perhaps the latter as a function of the former.
Ryan Howard's fly ball distance vs. RH soft pitches
The following heat map shows the fly ball distance on hard stuff thrown by right-handers from 2008-10. Notice that Howard's coverage of the plate -- particularly the inner portion -- seems to have vanished.
Ryan Howard's fly ball distance vs. RH hard pitches
It is particularly the hard stuff that pitchers have been using inside on Howard. This could be an indication that Howard's bat speed slowed; that they doubt his ability to turn around on an inside fastball.
If that is the case, the large extension awarded to Howard by Phillies GM Ruben Amaro may become the franchise's biggest mistake before it even starts.
The Phillies signed right-handed reliever Eddie Bonine, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The 29-year-old posted a 4.63 ERA in 68 innings for the Tigers last year with 3.4 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9. The Tigers made a push to bring Bonine back on a minor league deal before the Phillies made a better offer, according to MLB.com's Jason Beck
"8:48pm: The Phillies are "making [a] big push to keep Werth," tweets Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman."
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/11/p ... werth.html
Stove is starting to churn into a slow boil for now, boys...
http://www.philliesnation.com/archives/ ... declining/
Is Chase Utley Really Declining?
Posted by Paul Boye, Thu, November 11, 2010 05:05 PM
Spurred by Bill Baer’s Wednesday post on Baseball Analytics discussing Ryan Howard’s apparent decline, I started thinking about whether Chase Utley may be facing the same fate already.
The harsh reality of an aging core is one no front office or fanbase ever really wants to deal with, but that time has arrived for the Phillies. Assuming Domonic Brown starts the year in right field as Jayson Werth’s replacement, and no other changes are made to the starting eight position players, Brown will be the only starter under 30 on Opening Day 2011. Raul Ibanez will turn 39 in June. Placido Polanco is 35. Jimmy Rollins and Carlos Ruiz will be 32, and joining them will be Utley, following a season in which Chase added “surgically-repaired thumb” to his list of ailments.
Is age necessarily a forebear for poor performance? Not really. One hundred thirty-six players have hit at least 100 homers after turning 32, and a guy with a skill set like Utley’s – compact swing, good discipline – is likely to age pretty well, assuming good health.
What’s got me curious, however, is the notion that Utley is on the decline. Did he have a good postseason? No, I’m not sure anyone will argue that for very long. His defense was a little shaky and he hit just .212/.325/.333 in his 40 playoff plate appearances, but people seem to forget that Utley’s September/early October was much better over a bigger stretch of PAs. Chase hit .306/.420/.491 with five homers and 10 extra-base hits in 131 PAs in the season’s final month-plus.
Let’s take a look at Utley the same way Mr. Baer did in his article, by utilizing the ever-wonderful tools provided by the folks at Baseball Analytics. Hopefully, we’ll be able to see some data that supports either side of the decline argument. To start, the following three graphics are maps of Utley’s SLG against “hard” pitches – basically any pitch around 85 MPH or faster – from 2008, 2009 and 2010.
On the top row, we see 2008 and 2009’s slugging heat maps, with 2010 nestled below. It seems that, while Chase still handles hard pitches down and in, his overall plate coverage seems to have diminished. Pitches on the outer half weren’t driven for nearly as many extra-base hits in 2010.
Let’s put this concretely: in 2008, Utley slugged .768 with a 24.2 percent line drive rate on those hard pitches on the outer half. In 2009, he slugged .855, but with a greatly decreased 16.5 percent line drive rate. What really gets interesting is that, in 2010, Utley’s slugging dropped to “just” .554, but his line drive rate soared to 23.3 percent despite that.
We could simply be dealing with a sample disparity. Through all three seasons, there were no great fluctuations between Utley’s swing rate and contact rate for those hard, outer-half pitches. He did put more of those pitches in play in 2010, but the increase in line drive rate dilutes the argument for weaker contact made, somewhat.
It appears the answer isn’t in Utley’s success against hard pitches, but soft pitches, especially changeups and sliders. In 2008, Utley slugged .511 against the change. In 2009, he had a .404 SLG, and in 2010, that number dropped to .344, far below what’s expected of Chase. A large part of that could be due to a decrease in BABIP with those pitches (.364 to .358 to .250), especially since Utley is, again, still hitting line drives.
As for sliders, it seems Utley’s kryptonite is a slider from…a righty? Chase hit just .188/.325/.406, with a .316 BABIP, against sliders from righties. Compare that to 2009 (.298/.377/.511, .467 BABIP) and we have our biggest drop-off of any pitch’s stats from 2009 to 2010. Again, part of that could be BABIP fueled and could reverse in 2011 with no extra adjustment from Utley, though he did strike out more than 30 percent of the time against sliders in both years. This is the closest I’ve come to evidence supporting some sort of dramatic decline.
Graphically, though, Utley seems to be handling RHP sliders where they’re pitched the most.
The sliders that catch the plate are handled rather easily, and those that miss outside the zone aren’t often put in play (as expected). The sliders that do dive down and in on the black, however, do seem to pose a bit of an issue. The lack of color on the in play map tells us that Utley either takes those pitches or doesn’t make good contact, but only 25 pitches found that red/yellow spot on the inside black, not nearly enough to be truly problematic (Utley saw 154 total sliders from righties in 2010, so only 16 percent of the sliders Utley saw hit that spot).
The conclusion here is unclear. The numbers clash and conflict across the board, and there’s no clear pattern like the one Mr. Baer found with Howard. Hard stuff doesn’t really do the trick, changeup struggles seem BABIP fueled and without any particular major flaw on Utley’s part, and the closest thing we have to a definitive answer (the slider) doesn’t really feel definitive enough to shoulder the full weight of this argument.
I’m wondering if I’m dealing with a red herring. For all we know, these numbers could simply be year-to-year fluctuation based on luck. Unfortunately, the data runs out in 2008, so expanded samples aren’t possible. What are we left with, then? It’s tough to say. Every point of data seems counterbalanced, and there’s no true lean in any direction.
All this really tells me is that Utley may simply be susceptible to the effect of aging, with hip and thumb surgeries certainly not helping the cause. So, perhaps he is declining, but that decline certainly isn’t dramatic or alarming. Every player with decline at some point in their careers, and Chase Utley is no exception, but there doesn’t seem to be any imminent collapse around the corner for Utley, at least as far as these numbers go, and I would expect him to have another Chase-esque year in 2011.
yeah, everyone gets older. like i said, i think he'll bounce back. but it's definitely worth noting.
8 errors in 24 playoff games is not something to ignore. as for his offense let's hope it's not the hip and he comes back strong next year. this team has played so many games over the 3 years that age may catch up quicker than other teams.
done deal. apparently one of those asian LH relievers is next.
also nice to see sandberg brought on to manage LHV. Hopefully he is the heir apparent to the dummy manager
I was reading that Chuck's got carte blanche until whenever he wants to retire, but that his successor will definitely come from within the organization. You guess it - Mark Parent.
Yeah, apparently they're looking at the dude from the Mets right, either the Takahashi - or whatever his name is - or, who I would like, Feliciano.
I don't really know much about those 2 LHs. I think feliciano had a shitty year though. and he's got a lot of mileage on him. I'd be careful with him.
I'd love to see downs or fuentes, but they might be out of the phils price range
I know Downs is a Type A, and I never really saw what is so great about him, and what about Fuentes? He's at least a B right? I'd go for that, but don't know if he'd wanna set up instead of having a chance to close again.
All I know is Feliciano always had our number, especially The Guy With The Hole In His Swing Against Lefties, and has a rubber arm. Maybe he could at least get in #6's ear to let him know how most pitchers work him - if he doesn't know by now.
I think the phils are more likely to sign a type A guy because they will get extra picks when the Beard leaves. Type B guys don't require forfeiting picks.
I don't know much about downs, but I think he's a guy that gets RH and LH out. So I don't think he's a specialist per say.
Fuentes is dirty vs lefties. He's also got closer experience so he could step in if lidge goes down again (though I wouldn't want him as a long term closer).
we'll see...amaro has been pretty good about giving these pen guys one or two year deals
Sammi: Wanna just break up?
And what's wrong with a career 3.31 ERA? All I know is the dude's got a rubber arm and has lead the league - or somewhere there about - the past three years in appearances, has a high K/9 and a low HR/9. That's fine with me.
Sammi: Wanna just break up?
Halladay to win CY YOUNG award
The ONLY thing better than a glass of beer is tea with Miss McGill
A protuberance of flesh above the waistband of a tight pair of trousers
I mean, is that really breaking news?
5th player to get them in both leagues...
Everything and more he has been. Well worth it.
Hamels and Oswalt as well in the top 10 of voting. Cannot wait for next season.
Heyyyyy...buck up there, buddy. Things are actually starting to look a bit up in Flushing. Hey, I want the days where the shit talking can go back and forth equally just as much as you do.
Also, spectacular playoff performance (although a little bad luck in Game 1 vs. Giants, it happens).
WF Center 4/28/16; WF Center 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22;
Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; WF Center 9/7/24; WF Center 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
I broke it so its Breaking !
Congrats Doc !
The ONLY thing better than a glass of beer is tea with Miss McGill
A protuberance of flesh above the waistband of a tight pair of trousers