Bench production must improve in 2017

[Frobby]

Last year was a horrific year for our bench, which for this purpose I'm defining as anyone who was outside the top 9 in plate appearances.    Rickard fell into that group, but only because he was hurt.    In any event, as defined, the bench had 1090 plate appearances and batted a pathetic .205/.291/.315, with 23 HR and 71 RBI.

Needless to say, Caleb Joseph was a key non-contributor, with a .413 OPS and not a single HR or RBI to show for it.   Nolan Reimold was also a big disappointment, and Ryan Flaherty hit even worse than his usual uninspiring numbers, though he also played less than in past years due to the relative good health of our infield in 2016.    

I think this is an area where we can pick up a few extra runs in 2017.   

[backwardsk]

Having a guy sit as much as Flaherty does, doesn't help.  He had his fewest PAs since his rule V season.  Schoop started every game.  I'm not even a big Flaherty guy, it's real easy to have a poor season when you play so sporadically.

 

[Can_of_corn]

7 minutes ago, backwardsk said:

Having a guy sit as much as Flaherty does, doesn't help.  He had his fewest PAs since his rule V season.  Schoop started every game.  I'm not even a big Flaherty guy, it's real easy to have a poor season when you play so sporadically.

 

It's easy to sit a guy when they have so poor a season.

[El Gordo]

Flaherty was 11-for-31 with 12 RBIs with RISP. For all the angst people have over Flaherty you'd think UTIF was the most important position on the team.

[LA2]

49 minutes ago, backwardsk said:

Having a guy sit as much as Flaherty does, doesn't help.  He had his fewest PAs since his rule V season.  Schoop started every game.  I'm not even a big Flaherty guy, it's real easy to have a poor season when you play so sporadically.

 

If Buck hadn't driven his starting eight too hard, Flaherty would have had enough at-bats to get going. Over the years we've seen he needs that.

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, LA2 said:

If Buck hadn't driven his starting eight too hard, Flaherty would have had enough at-bats to get going. Over the years we've seen he needs that.

Yea, aside from the part where after a couple of weeks of having it going he reverts to his normal level.  Almost as if he is a bad offensive player that occasionally gets hot.

[LA2]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

Yea, aside from the part where after a couple of weeks of having it going he reverts to his normal level.  Almost as if he is a bad offensive player that occasionally gets hot.

I would have preferred him getting occasionally hot in 2017. He's a good enough defensive replacement to have been used that way.

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, LA2 said:

I would have preferred him getting occasionally hot in 2017. He's a good enough defensive replacement to have been used that way.

I would have preferred Manny and Schoop get the occasional day off even if it meant Flaherty getting more at bats.

[LA2]

2 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I would have preferred Manny and Schoop get the occasional day off even if it meant Flaherty getting more at bats.

As was implied.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, backwardsk said:

Having a guy sit as much as Flaherty does, doesn't help.  He had his fewest PAs since his rule V season.  Schoop started every game.  I'm not even a big Flaherty guy, it's real easy to have a poor season when you play so sporadically.

 

In the month he played the most (May - 23 games, 61 PA), Flaherty posted a .505 OPS.   So I'm not sure it matters how much he plays.   He did hit well in June while playing a fair amount.   

[Ohfan67]

5 hours ago, Frobby said:

Last year was a horrific year for our bench, which for this purpose I'm defining as anyone who was outside the top 9 in plate appearances.    Rickard fell into that group, but only because he was hurt.    In any event, as defined, the bench had 1090 plate appearances and batted a pathetic .205/.291/.315, with 23 HR and 71 RBI.

Needless to say, Caleb Joseph was a key non-contributor, with a .413 OPS and not a single HR or RBI to show for it.   Nolan Reimold was also a big disappointment, and Ryan Flaherty hit even worse than his usual uninspiring numbers, though he also played less than in past years due to the relative good health of our infield in 2016.    

I think this is an area where we can pick up a few extra runs in 2017.   

I wonder how this compares to the rest of league. I'm too lazy today to crunch the numbers.

[weams]

8 minutes ago, Ohfan67 said:

I wonder how this compares to the rest of league. I'm too lazy today to crunch the numbers.

Reimold, Joseph, Flaherty, Pena and Janish were all awful. Me too.

[billw76]

I agree the bench must improve this year. Getting better production from Joseph and Flaherty is a must, and if they hit like last season hopefully Buck will give someone else a shot. Having a Rule V guy on the roster every season doesn't help either. Yes we've gotten production from Flaherty and Rickard but it would be nice to not have to depend on that each year.

[El Gordo]

36 minutes ago, billw76 said:

I agree the bench must improve this year. Getting better production from Joseph and Flaherty is a must, and if they hit like last season hopefully Buck will give someone else a shot. Having a Rule V guy on the roster every season doesn't help either. Yes we've gotten production from Flaherty and Rickard but it would be nice to not have to depend on that each year.

What team is that dependent on their bench?

[thezeroes]

If you go by the B-R Splits which is not what the OP used but is a split between starters and substitutes it would be as follows:

Starters slash line .259/.322/.426/.749

Subs slash line .202/.279/.313/.592

This is for only the AL and includes pitchers when in NL Parks.