July 11, 200719 yr These grades are overall for each player who starts at each position. Please also answer in the bottom question which areas of the team need the most improvement. I have added every part of the team, from the players themselves to the managers, front office, and ownership.
July 11, 200719 yr Olivo - D because he at least has an arm so he isn't a failure in every aspect. Jacobs - I wanted incomplete but since I had to vote, I voted 'C.' He's still having a hard go of actually fielding his position, but as a catching first baseman he's improved markedly...even if it feels that as a fielder (meaning balls hit to him) he may have regressed from last year to now. Uggla - C. His average is tremendously disappointing (if expected) and he has to have one of the worst arms on the team, even if his range is probably the strongest on the infield. Hanley - A. Wish there was an A+. Cabrera - A. He's not nearly as bad defensively as some want you to believe and he is still our most important hitter night in and night out. Willingham - C. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I'd guess he'd be league average for a corner outfielder, and the defense is improving...too bad for his June. Centerfield - C. I don't see a tremendous problem here, in a vacuum, but Alfredo's just too soft a hitter to work with our team considering he can't/shouldn't bat leadoff and with the rest of our hitters 6-8, you need slugging somehow. Hermida - C. His strongest selling point throughout his career is still in full force...man can take a walk. If Fredi would get his head out of his ass and bat Hermida in the 2-hole and Uggla 6 (since Hermida's OBP is superior to Uggla's) this lineup would be all kinds of deep. Bench - B. Doing the best that they could be reasonably expected to do, but in no way shape or form is the bench above average, or even average. Just as far as the players go and production, you have to be pleased. Starting pitching - D. My word is it awful. Bullpen - B. No complaints at all. Needs improvement: Starting pitching, Coaching (I swear to God our guys just look unprepared since it's the same type of pitchers that beat us, consistently) and ownership.
July 11, 200719 yr Catcher: F! First Base: I give our first base situation a C since Boone filled in nicely for a while. Jacobs hasn't been what he was supposed to be after the Delgado trade and I don't expect Jacobs to be our starter beyond this year. Second Base: B, too many strikeouts though. Shortstop: B, Hanley's defense is bad, but he makes up for it with hitting and pure awesomeness. Third Base: A, but needs to reduce caloric intake. Left Field: B Now stop...Hammer Time! Centerfield: D Right Field: D Bench: B, they've been solid, even better when Ross comes back Starting Pitching: D, ewww Bullpen: A+ Fredi: C, I'm not ready to evaluate him yet Catching needs the most improvement since I think starting pitching will correct itself next year.
July 11, 200719 yr Catcher: D, but I give Olivo credit for some great collision plays at the plate, and he has a strong arm. First Base: C. I'm impressed with Jacobs' defense so far. I would like to see more consistency offensively. Second Base: B. Nice power from Uggs, but too many strikeouts and quite a dip in his batting average from last year. Shortstop: A. A superstar in the making. Would like to see more consistent defense. Third Base: A. If Cabrera cuts down on the K's, he bats .350 in the second half. He has shown much better defense the last few weeks. Left Field: B. Solid year so far for Hammer. Great numbers with RISP. Centerfield: C. Fredo's filled in very nicely and has made some nice plays. Still need a centerfielder, though. Right Field: C. Hermida avoids getting a D due to his OBP. Needs to show much more consistency at the plate, and his defense has been horrible. Bench: C. The guys coming in have done well, but getting Ross back will really help. Starting Pitching: D. Perhaps the biggest disappointment so far this season. Mitre's been the one pleasant surprise. Injuries to Sanchez and JJ don't help. Hope to see better play from D-Train and Olsen. Bullpen: B. No complaints.
July 11, 200719 yr Author I don't know how people can say that Miguel Olivo has had a worse season than our combined centerfielders.
July 11, 200719 yr I don't know how people can say that Miguel Olivo has had a worse season than our combined centerfielders. He has more errors, a lower BA, and a rediculous SO to BB average in comparison to our combined CF.
July 11, 200719 yr Catcher: D First Base: D. nothing to say here, Jacobs hasnt impressed me and he has been injured Second Base: B. Nice power from Uggla but I hope that he could get that batting average a little higher Shortstop: A. Amazing Third Base: A. Amazing Left Field: C. I was expecting a little more from Willingham ... plus the power numbers need a boost Centerfield: F. we dont have an answer and the stop gaps arent all that favorable Right Field: D. really dissapointed here ... defense F Bench: C. with Boone & Wood alone they would have a B but if we have to count the whole bench than its a solid C Starting Pitching: D. Horrible ... we need to get a bit more consistent and injuries are not helping (specially with the dip in the overall product aka sophomore slump) Bullpen: B. No complaints. Improvements: needed all around
July 11, 200719 yr Catcher: D First Base: D. nothing to say here, Jacobs hasnt impressed me and he has been injured Second Base: B. Nice power from Uggla but I hope that he could get that batting average a little higher Shortstop: A. Amazing Third Base: A. Amazing Left Field: C. I was expecting a little more from Willingham ... plus the power numbers need a boost Centerfield: F. we dont have an answer and the stop gaps arent all that favorable Right Field: D. really dissapointed here ... defense F Bench: C. with Boone & Wood alone they would have a B but if we have to count the whole bench than its a solid C Starting Pitching: D. Horrible ... we need to get a bit more consistent and injuries are not helping (specially with the dip in the overall product aka sophomore slump) Bullpen: B. No complaints. Improvements: needed all around
July 11, 200719 yr I don't know how people can say that Miguel Olivo has had a worse season than our combined centerfielders. We get average production from CF, both offensively and deffensively. We get well below average production from C, both offensively and deffensively. I don't even see how it's a contest. The only thing that's been worse than Olivo is our starting pitching.
July 11, 200719 yr I don't know how people can say that Miguel Olivo has had a worse season than our combined centerfielders. We get average production from CF, both offensively and deffensively. We get well below average production from C, both offensively and deffensively. MLB average OPS among catchers - .702 Olivo's OPS - .658 MLB average OPS among CFs - .749 Our CFs' OPS - .650 Olivo is .044 OPS points below the C average Our CFs are .099 OPS points below the CF average Why do you think we get average offensive production from our CFs but well below average from Olivo? It appears you're not using OPS. What are you using?
July 11, 200719 yr Olivo: D+ Jacobs: C- Uggla: B+ Hanley: A- Miguel: A- Hammer: D- Alfredo: C Hermida: D+ Boone: B Borchard: F Wood: B Treanor: B+ Reggie: F Dontrelle: C- Olsen: D- Mitre: A- Wes: F Kim: C Gregg: A- Pinto: B Gardenr: D Miller: A- Tank: F Fredi: C-
July 11, 200719 yr Olivo: C - Almost gave him a D for the reason's everyone knows, but the strong arm, being a wall at the plate, and the fact that he owns Wickman bumped him up. Make it a C-----. Jake: C - Jake is getting better as a fielder, was doing pretty good until his injury, and he has been coming back to form. Uggla: C - Has an Olivo like BA, leads the team in strikeouts, but still showing good power numbers, good RBI's, and walks quite a bit to offset the SOs. Hanley: A - His defense isn't the best but better than the numbers how, leads the team in BA, R, and OBP. With a guy playing so well, he needs a nickname. (not Shadez...) Miggie: B - I was probably too harsh on him, but he's been striking out a bit to much for my liking(2nd only to Danny), and still needs to shave off a bit of that arepa/McDonald's weight. Still one of the most feared hitters in the NL. The Hammer: B - Not the best fielder out there, especially when the ball falls near the foul line, but he is slowly learning out there. He's been great in clutch situations, and hell, he's my favorite position player on the team, so that bumps him from C to B. Centerfielders: C - Not nearly as bad as people think our problem is out there. I still think it should be a lower priority than the Starting Pitching or Catcher. Amezaga can hold his own out there until we fix our other problems. Jeremy: D - No comment. Let's just pray that he learns to use TWO HANDS. Bench: B - Jason Wood, Cody Ross, Aaron Boone, Alfredo Amezaga(sometimes), Joe Borchard, Matt Treanor. What a bench should be. Starting Pitchers: D - Outside Cap'n Mitre, the starting pitching has been horrendous, biggest problem on the team. Injuries don't help. Please don't trade D-Train, as Obi is not a suitable replacement! Bullpen: B - Jorge Julio at the beginning was part of the problem with the pen, but we got past that. Between Owens, Miller, Lindstrom, Mando, Pinto, And Gardner, it's been great at holding the game when we pass a win to them. Superman has stepped up into that closer roll beautifully(18/19, only BS came when he was stretched into a 2nd inning). Hopefully when the injuries in the rotation clear up, we can send down Obi and use BK as our longman. Also, hopefully AAA is got to Tank and he comes back in his last season form. Fredi: C - Makes some weird decisions, has a tendency to put too much belief that people will bring themselves out of a probem(Julio as closer, leaving Starters in too long, first 3 JJ/Obi starts), but is an OK manager. Improvements: Starting Pitching, Catching, Jeremy Hermida(TWO HANDS!), Manager/Coaching, and the Ownership.
July 12, 200719 yr Olivo: D+ Jacobs: C- Uggla: B+ Hanley: A- Miguel: A- Hammer: D- Alfredo: C Hermida: D+ Boone: B Borchard: F Wood: B Treanor: B+ Reggie: F Dontrelle: C- Olsen: D- Mitre: A- Wes: F Kim: C Gregg: A- Pinto: B Gardenr: D Miller: A- Tank: F Fredi: C- You're a tough grader! Hammer a D-?
July 12, 200719 yr Olivo: D+ Jacobs: C+ Uggla: B Hanley: B+ Miguel: A- Hammer: C+ Alfredo: B Hermida: -Z Boone: B Borchard: D+ Wood: B Treanor: B+ Reggie: D Dontrelle: C- Olsen: C- Mitre: A- Wes: D Kim: C Gregg: A- Pinto: C Gardner: C Miller: A- Tank: F Fredi: C+
July 12, 200719 yr Olivo: D+ Jacobs: C- Uggla: B+ Hanley: A- Miguel: A- Hammer: D- Alfredo: C Hermida: D+ Boone: B Borchard: F Wood: B Treanor: B+ Reggie: F Dontrelle: C- Olsen: D- Mitre: A- Wes: F Kim: C Gregg: A- Pinto: B Gardenr: D Miller: A- Tank: F Fredi: C- You're a tough grader! Hammer a D-? I meant B- on Hammer.. typo.
July 12, 200719 yr Interesting to see 50 votes in and most people believe our biggest need is starting pitching. Looking back on April it's hard to believe, but I agree. I'm also glad to see almost everyone give Willingham a B grade. His presence in the lineup has been vastly overlooked.
July 12, 200719 yr I don't know how people can say that Miguel Olivo has had a worse season than our combined centerfielders. We get average production from CF, both offensively and deffensively. We get well below average production from C, both offensively and deffensively. MLB average OPS among catchers - .702 Olivo's OPS - .658 MLB average OPS among CFs - .749 Our CFs' OPS - .650 Olivo is .044 OPS points below the C average Our CFs are .099 OPS points below the CF average Why do you think we get average offensive production from our CFs but well below average from Olivo? It appears you're not using OPS. What are you using? Meh that was just a quick post because I wasn't really in the mood to post anything long. And honestly what I meant wasn't what I said, which is my fault, but those are the breaks when you make a lazy post. So. Now you get my long post. There are 13 teams with an above .500 record. Out of these teams, 6 of them are on pace to have 90 or more wins. The average OPS of the starting catcher for these 13 teams is .770. The average OPS against RHP: .745 (I bring up RHP because this is a huge flaw in Olivo's offensive game. And due to the fact that we only face, what, probably an average of 3 lefty SPs a month....I'm a HELL of a lot more worried about how a player doesn't against RHP than I am against LHP) The average OBP against RHP: .325 (I feel that OBP is on par, and in some cases more valueable than OPS, hence my addition of OBP against RHP) Out of these 13 teams, tehre are only two teams with a starting catcher with a sub-700 OPS: NYM and ARZ (who are in a platoon situation). Those 7 teams on pace for 90+ wins: OPS: .790 OPS against RHP: .752 OBP against RHP: .322 Out of those 7 teams, only one team has a sub .750 OPS starting catcher: SD, who's pitching is bat-sh*t insane. Meanwhile, there are 17 other teams. OPS: .672 OPS against RHP: .660 OBP against RHP: .225 Out of these 17 teams, there are only three starting catchers with an OPS above .700: SF, NYY, KC And now Olivo's numbers OPS: .658 OPS against RHP: .565 OBP against RHP: .225 So if you compare Olivo to the starting catchers of the "top" teams, there's a difference of OPS: -.105 OPS RHP: -.180 OBP RHP: -.100 Against the elite 7: OPS: -.132 OPS RHP: -.187 OBP RHP: -.097 Against the bottom crop: OPS: -.014 OPS RHP: -.095 OBP RHP: -.072 Meanwhile with Amezaga I'm getting real lazy atm so just doing the 13 teams that are over 500 OPS: .775 OPS RHP: .774 OBP RHP: .333 Amezaga: OPS: .678 OPS RHP: .683 OBP RHP: .329 And as I said before, I belive that OBP can be just as important as OPS. And while I certainely would much rather have both an OBP and SLG guy, the fact that Amezaga is a good OBP guy is good enough for me. Also I have to admit I was thinking more along the lines of "what have you done with me lately" when talking about Amezaga above. Because since June: .348 OBP, .720 OPS. And while I'm sure leading off had something to do with it, he's still been hot since going over to the 8 hole. He just had a horrible may, you look at what he did last year in the 8 hole (.354 OBP, .730 OPS against RHP) and that is very close to what he has done since June, and what I believe he is capable of continually doing. As far as the last part where you crossed out the defensive parts.... Defensively, Amezaga has done at worst average out there. He's improved a lot this year. And if you're seriously going to argue that Olivo is not a below defensive catcher than...well, I'd really like to hear that arguement. I believe we can be a .500+ team with Amezaga in CF, playing the way he is. I do not believe we can be a .500+ team with Olivo at C, playing the way he is. I'm also a firm believer that catcher is, far far FAR away the most important positional part of a team. So knowing our C is so horrible in comparrision to the .500+ teams...yeah, it's depressing. Nearly a .200 difference in OPS against RHP is quite, quite depressing. *note: the numbers are slightly off because there is no way I'm taking the time to calculate each starting catchers OPS and such combined, so what I did was just add them up and divide by the amount of teams. So while it won't give the exact number, it is still will be close to the actual number, since majority of them have similiar PA. Personally I don't care about compare "team catchers" to "team catchers", I care about comparing the starters with the starters.
July 12, 200719 yr I don't know how people can say that Miguel Olivo has had a worse season than our combined centerfielders. We get average production from CF, both offensively and deffensively. We get well below average production from C, both offensively and deffensively. MLB average OPS among catchers - .702 Olivo's OPS - .658 MLB average OPS among CFs - .749 Our CFs' OPS - .650 Olivo is .044 OPS points below the C average Our CFs are .099 OPS points below the CF average Why do you think we get average offensive production from our CFs but well below average from Olivo? It appears you're not using OPS. What are you using? Meh that was just a quick post because I wasn't really in the mood to post anything long. And honestly what I meant wasn't what I said, which is my fault, but those are the breaks when you make a lazy post. So. Now you get my long post. There are 13 teams with an above .500 record. Out of these teams, 6 of them are on pace to have 90 or more wins. The average OPS of the starting catcher for these 13 teams is .770. The average OPS against RHP: .745 (I bring up RHP because this is a huge flaw in Olivo's offensive game. And due to the fact that we only face, what, probably an average of 3 lefty SPs a month....I'm a HELL of a lot more worried about how a player doesn't against RHP than I am against LHP) The average OBP against RHP: .325 (I feel that OBP is on par, and in some cases more valueable than OPS, hence my addition of OBP against RHP) Out of these 13 teams, tehre are only two teams with a starting catcher with a sub-700 OPS: NYM and ARZ (who are in a platoon situation). Those 7 teams on pace for 90+ wins: OPS: .790 OPS against RHP: .752 OBP against RHP: .322 Out of those 7 teams, only one team has a sub .750 OPS starting catcher: SD, who's pitching is bat-sh*t insane. Meanwhile, there are 17 other teams. OPS: .672 OPS against RHP: .660 OBP against RHP: .225 Out of these 17 teams, there are only three starting catchers with an OPS above .700: SF, NYY, KC And now Olivo's numbers OPS: .658 OPS against RHP: .565 OBP against RHP: .225 So if you compare Olivo to the starting catchers of the "top" teams, there's a difference of OPS: -.105 OPS RHP: -.180 OBP RHP: -.100 Against the elite 7: OPS: -.132 OPS RHP: -.187 OBP RHP: -.097 Against the bottom crop: OPS: -.014 OPS RHP: -.095 OBP RHP: -.072 Meanwhile with Amezaga I'm getting real lazy atm so just doing the 13 teams that are over 500 OPS: .775 OPS RHP: .774 OBP RHP: .333 Amezaga: OPS: .678 OPS RHP: .683 OBP RHP: .329 And as I said before, I belive that OBP can be just as important as OPS. And while I certainely would much rather have both an OBP and SLG guy, the fact that Amezaga is a good OBP guy is good enough for me. Also I have to admit I was thinking more along the lines of "what have you done with me lately" when talking about Amezaga above. Because since June: .348 OBP, .720 OPS. And while I'm sure leading off had something to do with it, he's still been hot since going over to the 8 hole. He just had a horrible may, you look at what he did last year in the 8 hole (.354 OBP, .730 OPS against RHP) and that is very close to what he has done since June, and what I believe he is capable of continually doing. As far as the last part where you crossed out the defensive parts.... Defensively, Amezaga has done at worst average out there. He's improved a lot this year. And if you're seriously going to argue that Olivo is not a below defensive catcher than...well, I'd really like to hear that arguement. I believe we can be a .500+ team with Amezaga in CF, playing the way he is. I do not believe we can be a .500+ team with Olivo at C, playing the way he is. I'm also a firm believer that catcher is, far far FAR away the most important positional part of a team. So knowing our C is so horrible in comparrision to the .500+ teams...yeah, it's depressing. Nearly a .200 difference in OPS against RHP is quite, quite depressing. *note: the numbers are slightly off because there is no way I'm taking the time to calculate each starting catchers OPS and such combined, so what I did was just add them up and divide by the amount of teams. So while it won't give the exact number, it is still will be close to the actual number, since majority of them have similiar PA. Personally I don't care about compare "team catchers" to "team catchers", I care about comparing the starters with the starters. That was a very interesting and informative post. Very interesting.
July 12, 200719 yr If we had even league average pitching we'd have like 45 wins (our ERA+ is 90, indicating that we've been 10% below League average. Subtracting 10% of our runs allowed and we are at 402. Our pythagoreon W/L with 424 Runs scored and 402 runs allowed is 45-44 or 46-43 as the number falls somewhere in between those two). Our offense (specifically, Olivo) is not the problem. It's the pitching.
July 12, 200719 yr Our offense (specifically, Olivo) is not the problem. It's the pitching. I agree 100% that our problem has been pitching However 1) I do think Olivo plays a small role in how bad our pitching has been. I'm not saying he's the sole reason or whatever, the blame rests on the pitching staff and how they have underperformed this year. But it's hard not to scratch ones head when looking at a lot of the numbers. But I also think Olivo was behind 9/11, so... 2) "contend" probably would have been a better word to use. And I mean seriously contend, not NL EAST contend.
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