Epic Strike Out Thread

Why is not Escobar hitting 6th after the last few days?

I believe they are looking to get Go-go some better pitches to hit

Time for my weekly whine about Escobar not hitting second....

Escobar has a poor overall OBP for the top of the order but he has been stuck at the bottom of the order for most of the season which hasn't helped that OBP. When he has gotten a chance to hit second he's done a great job. Granted, the plate appearances are limited (22) but when he's hit second he's posted an impressive .333/.364/.476/.840. You'd figure batting him ahead of Braun or Fielder would help him tremendously, and moving him into that spot would allow Hart to hit down in the order where he would have the opportunity to drive in more runs. I could understand not wanting to bat Escobar second if he figured to be a bottom of the order hitter later in his career. But most of the clippings when he was coming up projected him as a #2 hitter over the long haul, so it just doesn't make much sense to not give him a real shot to hit in that spot now.

As a side note, I still can't help but wonder what Weeks would do if he was moved out of that leadoff spot and given a chance to drive in more runs. Weeks has a huge line when hitting with runners in scoring position this year - .352/.478/.500/.978. Last year he had a 1.030 OPS with runners in scoring position before he was injured.

And with this many relievers on the roster, I really like the concept of batting the pitcher 8th.

New dream lineup:

SS-Escobar
LF-Braun
1B-Fielder
3B-McGehee
RF-Hart
2B-Weeks
CF-Gomez
Pitcher
C-Lucroy

quote:

Originally posted by WarrenSpahn:
I believe they are looking to get Go-go some better pitches to hit

Braun and Fielder have done that flip-flop thing but you still figure the guy who is going to get the best pitches to hit is whoever is in the #2 spot.

Gomez has gotten a pretty significant opportunity (115 plate appearances) in that spot and has totaled a pretty unimpressive .255/.287/.391/.678. If you are using the typical pitcher hitting ninth lineup, then Gomez has earned himself that #8 spot in the order. Gomez hasn't hit 7th or 8th very much this year, but he's actually done better down there than he has when having Braun/Fielder hitting behind him.

quote:

Originally posted by PackerJoe:
New dream lineup:

I can live with that. What about with a RHP on the mound?

Ordinary righty = same lineup

Real tough righty = Kottaras 7th and Edmonds 9th

Recent Haudricourt tweet:

LHP Zach Braddock has rejoined the Brewers after leaving the club because of the death of an uncle.

There's a wasted opportunity. If Fielder had even grounded into a DP instead of striking out the Brewers have a run. He's left a lot of runners on the bases this year.

a shell of your former self rick, don't you have some 1998 SFG numbers to double check?

quote:

Originally posted by El-Ka-Bong:
a shell of your former self rick, don't you have some 1998 SFG numbers to double check?

Huh? Fielder does it again. That's 4 runs in the last 12 innings we've seen the K cost a team a run in this series where a ball in play gives a team a chance. What did your numbers say? A team loses how many runs to that situation in a season?

Fielder was hitting a rock solid .162 with RISP before that AB. He should be hitting about 7th in the order.

Can't argue that Prince is pressing and absolutely out of it with RISP. Not sure how many times both Prince and Braun have had shots to drive in runs and came up empty like that. The K is just another out, he's flown out to the short stop in the same situation, same huge failure. The discussion about K's though is big picture, I figured you could get that. In this particular situation, a sac fly would have been more that acceptable, but as has happened all year, Prince struggled to deliver.

I'm pointing out why your big picture study is flawed. It's not how many times a team Ks, it's in what situations they K. We've only seen examples of a runner on 3B with less than 2 outs so far. Eventually we'll see situations where hitters K without moving runners into scoring position that costs team runs as well.

I wonder if Gomez even knew he had 2 strikes on him when he laid down that bunt.

if you mean a positive outcome is more desirable than a negative outcome, I agree. You can romanticize it all you want, over time K's are just outs.

Spoken like a man sliding backwards down the hill.

quote:

Originally posted by PackerRick:
I wonder if Gomez even knew he had 2 strikes on him when he laid down that bunt.

more than likely not

Weeks, on base 3 times already, and with a clutch two out hit. Come on now Parra.

quote:

Originally posted by stiffler:
Weeks, on base 3 times already, and with a clutch two out hit. Come on now Parra.

Love the 'Maxi the Taxi' avatar, Stiffler!

you never answered me rick, was the SFG study one of your own, or something you found?

quote:

Originally posted by hoophead:

quote:

Originally posted by stiffler:
Weeks, on base 3 times already, and with a clutch two out hit. Come on now Parra.

Love the 'Maxi the Taxi' avatar, Stiffler!

Thanks, I put it on back when he passed. I had an old jersey too that I used to wear back when he was still on the air. I figured that he would never have a bad game, so it was a safe jersey to have.

The ball in play scored how many runs there?

very nice play be Casey, but did anyone else think for a moment Lucroy would miss the tag?

quote:

Originally posted by El-Ka-Bong:
you never answered me rick, was the SFG study one of your own, or something you found?

One I found. There were a few others, one that was much better and went after the baseball prospectus study.

curious the "better" study had all the numbers wrong

quote:

Originally posted by ammo:
The ball in play scored how many runs there?

Which play, the Weeks single or the lame bunt attempt by the pitcher on the first pitch?

quote:

Originally posted by El-Ka-Bong:
curious the "better" study had all the numbers wrong

I saw that. The study I didn't post carved up that baseball perspective study like a Thanksgiving turkey.

we need a "Gomez Rule" where Carlos must lay down 5 successful bunts before he is allowed to swing away. Then, if he has 5 bad AB's in a row, the rule takes effect again

quote:

Originally posted by PackerRick:

quote:

Originally posted by ammo:
The ball in play scored how many runs there?

Which play, the Weeks single or the lame bunt attempt by the pitcher on the first pitch?

Where the Twin runner was out at the plate. Traded a runner at 3rd for a runner at 1st by "putting the ball in play." A K would have been better for the Twins.

try to keep up.

that's a tough play for Prince, but what would it take to make one of those plays once in awhile. Better defense makes this a whole different situation

I admit, I didn't see it coming, but I am starting to have special feelings for Loe

Villy makes me nervous

Villanueva gets into trouble when he doesn't throw strikes early in the count. If he gets aggressive he's usually pretty good.

fun

Axford certainly doesn't mess around

Another great performance by the Brewers tonight.

Really starting to warm up to Rick Peterson. Parra is looking like a totally different guy...except on those pitch-outs.

Don't mess with the Ax man!

This was a nice win because Liriano is no slouch and his record is very deceiving. While Parra has pitched better recently, on paper I wouldn't give the nod to Milwaukee in this head to head matchup, but they did a nice job and the bullpen was great tonight.

Loe and Axford have had a major impact. Braddock's ERA isn't good but he's pitched better than his numbers would indicate. It's too bad they didn't call those guys up earlier this year considering that Hoffman and Vargas and Suppan and Hawkins probably cost them 15 games between them.

Manny matches Liriano pitch for pitch !!!

Braun, Fielder and Casey have horrible nights at the plate ...with RISP. But Ricky, Hart, Escobar, Lucroy all come through !!!
(Hart is mashing in the #2 spot)

Luckily Braun's and Fielder's play in the field didn't come back to bite....that was a horrible throw to HP by Braun !!!

Just like last night ....Loe and Axford look fantastic. Nice moves by Melvin.

Grampa was working the pen tonight !! I bet Manny is almost over getting yanked by now.