5/13 Red Sox @ the Twinkies

[Station 13]

I'm surprise pitchers throw real strikes to AJ. He chase everything away.

[Station 13]

Papi's 60 HR from 500. Amazing.

[a700hitter]

Let' pull out this game against their pen!!

[a700hitter]

Ortiz with his 4th hit and 4th RBI!! One run down. Let's go Naps!!!

[RedSoxNC84]

Ortiz is a damn machine tonight

[a700hitter]

Ortiz is a damn machine tonight

Thank goodness that he doesn't play the field or we would have to pay him $30 million/year.

[afjay]

Great at bat

[a700hitter]

Great AB by Gomes. Bases loaded 10 pitch walk to tie the game.

[Youk Of The Nation]

Gomes just went full Napoli. That was a hell of an at-bat.

[NativeBostonian]

Good at bat gomes.

[a700hitter]

Damn!! Froze him on the inside 3-2 pitch after 7 pitches outside. Have to giv the pitcher a tip of the cap going inside 3-2 after not going there in the AB.

[Station 13]

Our RHH are krytonize by the slider.

[Station 13]

Miller was looking so good. But down and in to a lefty is not a good idea.

[a700hitter]

Wasted a really nice comeback. I am surprised that the lefty owned Miller tonight. He looked pretty dominant.

[d-money]

Wasted opportunity.This team takes one step foward and one step back.We are fortunate that this division stinks.They are not taking advantage

[seabeachfred]

Wasted opportunity.This team takes one step foward and one step back.We are fortunate that this division stinks.They are not taking advantage

 

Sooner or later we just have to take control of the division......you think?

[a700hitter]

Sooner or later we just have to take control of the division......you think?

It's up for grabs.

[Station 13]

We need Xander, Bradley and Middlebrooks to produce. So far they have not done a lot.

[d-money]

f*** middlebrooks! The guy cant hit himself out of a wet paper bag right now.I rather see holt right now

[reYoukilis]

Say what you want about Bradley but despite the low average, hes been in the middle of alot of scoring. Hes 5th in RBI's and 3rd in runs. Hes also 2nd in doubles, 1st in stealing without being caught and 5th in BB's. Combine that with his D and JBJ has more of his fingerprints on winning than his average may show.

[User Name]

That's because batting average is a terrible tool for evaluating a hitter's production.

[Bellhorn04]

Thank goodness that he doesn't play the field or we would have to pay him $30 million/year.

 

Just about right isn't it?

[Bellhorn04]

f*** middlebrooks! The guy cant hit himself out of a wet paper bag right now.I rather see holt right now

 

I think Middlebrooks is the guy whose time might be getting very short.

[NativeBostonian]

That's because batting average is a terrible tool for evaluating a hitter's production.

 

I don't disagree or agree. I'm just curios why this is a opinion of a lot of people. Why do you think that BA is useless?

[a700hitter]

I think Middlebrooks is the guy whose time might be getting very short.

Bradley brings the glove that the other two don't have. Middlebrooks has the power potential that the other 2 don't have, but he is not showing it thus far in the season. He's a legit 30 HR type guy -- a Mark Reynolds type with better defense. Bogaerts is the best rounded talent of the 3, but he is showing nothing special on either side of the ball thus far. Unfortunately, we need more time for these guys to figure it out or not. It's also unfortunate that 3 guys are learning on the job at the same time. It is a lineup killer.

[a700hitter]

BTW Jacko, for punking out on making the game thread for yesterday's game in clear violation of accepted TalkSox norms, I am placing a curse on your Yankees. The injuries that they have experienced up to this point will seem like nothing compared with what will come. Be prepared to see Jeter in a cast while going through his farewell tour.

[User Name]

I don't disagree or agree. I'm just curios why this is a opinion of a lot of people. Why do you think that BA is useless?

 

Because it's a component of a much more useful stat: OBP. OBP and slugging are the two factors that most directly affect run scoring.

 

A guy that hits .220 with a .340 OBP and lots of power production is always going to be more valuable than the guy who hits a lot of singles but doesn't walk or hit for power. Batting average, by itself, only tells you whether a guy is hitting singles. That's nearly useless.

[mvp 78]

The only problem with only looking at OBP is that a single is more valuable to moving runners than walks. I think you have to look at all statistics. Favoring one and ignoring others is just as silly as completely ignoring RsBI and BA.

 

Saying a stat like BA is useless is pretty snobby imo, especially when that stat does have value.

[User Name]

"Nearly useless". And a single isn't always more valuable to moving runners. In fact, in most cases, a single is only going to move a runner a base at a time.

 

Again, batting average is outclassed by most other offense-measuring stats because not only is it a component of another statistic, but its usefulness is very limited. A hitter can be quite useful with low BA but good OBP, but it's almost never the case the other way around.

 

The more limited a stat is, the less useful.

[Bellhorn04]

"Nearly useless". And a single isn't always more valuable to moving runners. In fact, in most cases, a single is only going to move a runner a base at a time.

 

Aha, but consider this:

 

-A single can move a baserunner with speed two bases a significant % of the time.

-A walk will sometimes not move a baserunner at all.

 

Runners at second and third:

-A single can result in 2 runs.

-A walk results in 0 runs.

 

Just messin' with you UN, because I realize you already know those things quite well.

 

A little statistical analysis on the relative value of a single vs. a walk would be interesting.