Pickles

Is it legal to move your fence back 30 feet?

This organization is probably surprised they are winning 100 games and the division. I can guarantee you, nobody in the entire organization is surprised they're playoff-bound.

No, it kind of f-ing does matter. We all just saw why.

Anybody calling for Hyde to be fired is a colossal moron who should be mocked and ridiculed.

Does he hit?

Well, then Adley's probably not your kind of hitter.

Would it make you feel better if he had a lower batting average this year like last year? Yes, nobody is arguing he's hitting as well, specifically for power, as he did last year. We can all see the numbers. However, as has been established, it's not nearly as gaping difference as some are making it to be. And if he wasn't slugging a mere .378 over his last 45 Abs, it would be even less so.

I made my post in conjunction with Aristotle's and specifically cited it. I apologize if it was unclear. But again, unless my math is wrong, and that's totally possible, we're literally talking about a handful of extra base hits over the course of the year.

Can I see your math? Because my math has it at .447, which would give him a higher slugging than last year. He currently has 226 total bases in 537 PAs for a slg% of .417. However, an additional 16 total bases, gives him 240 in the same 537 PAs for a .447 slg %. Am I in error here?

I'm talking about rate stats. His ISO would be identical to last year's if he had 16 more total bases. That's 2 HR and 4 doubles over a six month season. Yes, that's a drop off, but it isn't some gaping difference.

Ironically, it may be Brady Anderson. How many people knew Brady had more WAR than Jones over their careers? I think he's remembered almost solely for his 50 hr campaign, and seen as a "one hit wonder" while failing to acknowledge that he had two other seasons over 5 WAR. A mark Jonesy never reached. I'd also nominate Chris Hoiles. He's underappreciated. I play a baseball sim game on whatifsports occasionally, and I almost always grab Hoiles at catcher, because his rate stats are crazy impressive for a catcher. He OPSed over 1000 over 500 PAs in 1993!

As Aristotle breaks down below, he's literally like 2 HRs and 4 doubles away from having the exact same power numbers as last year. It's not nearly as pronounced as some are making it to be.

By league I'm referring to solely the American. And by strict WAR measures, no he's not. I can assure you though, if you gave a smart GM the right to pick his top guys from the entire American league, Adley would be gone in the first 20 picks.

Which we've largely gotten. Would I like his OPS to be 130 instead of 120? Of course. Is it some gaping difference? No. Where he's really lost value, WAR-wise, has been his defense. I don't trust WARs quantifications of defense, particularly of catchers, but I do think it is fair to say he has declined defensively this year. But again, that simply could be the predictable result of 200 more ABs.

I should go back and try to find some of the threads before he came up; there was one in particular where basically everybody predicted him to have an 900 OPS and I was alone saying those are crazy high, and unrealistic, expectations. So I've always felt people's expectations were too high, particularly offensively, and that people don't appreciate how difficult it is on the body to catch at the ML level nightly and how that affects you as a hitter. Now, that said, it's fair to say he's not performed as well this as last year. But last year he was probably a top 5 player in the league, and this year he's "merely" top 20. To me these are the normal fluctuations of a career. Now, if he's top 50 next year, then yeah we'll have something becoming a trend and I'll be more concerned.

LOL. My SO kept saying last night, "They lost the last two nights. They're really going to lose tonight." She said it about six times throughout the course of the game. When I announced to her they had indeed lost last night, she repeated it again, "They lost the last two nights. I can't believe they lost tonight." I had to in my most restrained voice say, "I know they lost the last two nights. You don't have to keep repeating it." Then I went out the garage and had a nice beer in silence. LOL. I'm maturing.

Well, I don't know what to tell you but they should have acknowledged it being in the realm of possibilities. I did.

Sure, his numbers are "down" but they're still within the reasonably expected parameters. Again, if you say his peak is 870 OPS, and he has an 800 OPS (yes, he's a little below that currently) then you have to acknowledge that isn't underperformance, but merely the normal fluctuation of performance that all players go through. FWIW, I don't like using OPS in these discussions, as the offensive levels have varied so much so recently. I'd prefer OPS+. And using that metric, the guy is hitting 20% better than league average. Will he do better than that some years? I believe so. But I don't look at his 120 OPS+ and see underperformance, even if I acknowledge that it is possible for him to do better.

It's not out of the question. He could put a year or two together like that. That's a peak. But that's a differnt thing than looking at a guy with a 120 OPS+ and saying he isn't performing up to expectations. If we admittedly accept it's a peak, we have to acknowledge we don't actually expect him to peak every year, and Adley's performance this year is well within the bounds of reasonable expectations.

Oh, sure. Adley could have a big monster season like Posey's 2012, or Mauer's 2009. That could happen. However, that's a lot different than looking at a guy who is in a bit of a slump with a 120 OPS+, and acting like something's wrong.

Yes, I don't expect him to be as good as Posey. Posey's numbers also came in much friendlier offensive environments.

An 870 OPS would put Adley at #12 in all of MLB. Do we really expect Adley to be a top 10ish hitter in all of MLB? I don't and I never have. And those that have, I have consistently said their expectations are too high. Why SHOULD Adley be a top 10 hitter in all of MLB?

I think your expectations are too high and I think reality is showing that.

150,000 should be the goal for the series. I think they do that.

Do you expect him to perform or grow radically from his current level of performance?