Asdrubal Cabrera likely to bat second in new-look Tribe lineup
February 19, 2013WFNY Stats & Info: Comparing Josh Hamilton and Michael Bourn
February 19, 2013While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.
In case you missed it from this weekend– “I remember, Larry got in front of him at the top of the key and I was behind him. That made me relax a little bit, because we had the double team. [Jordan] got the ball and went right, and Larry, who’s 6-11, went with him. And then Michael cut right back to his left and that crossed Larry up, and next thing you know I’m by myself with him right at the wing. The double team didn’t work at all. I chased him out to the wing, and when I chased him out he was coming right back to the rim. I always had a good defensive stance, but he was so quick that I had to run with him, and when I did I crossed my feet. So when he stopped to pull up for the jumper, I was still running. I kept with him but because I was running, I sort of went by him—but I still had my hand in his face.
The way that game was going, I thought that shot was going in right away. I saw the flight of the ball, and I knew it was going in. But I was still praying that it would hit the rim and bounce out or something. It did bounce once but then it dropped in, and our season was over with. That’s why I fell to the ground—because I just didn’t want it to end in that situation. I always tell people, I grew up watching ABC’s Wide World of Sports and they had that “agony of defeat” line, you know? And I felt like that guy. It was just agony that we got beat. And then of course I had to watch him jump up and down. And seeing Doug Collins run around only made it worse.” [Carmichael/Deadspin]
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Good piece on predicting pitcher injuries– “Let’s talk a little bit about risk vs. certainty. In this article, I’m presenting risk factors for future injury. Focusing for a moment on the data presented on disabled list time, a previous DL trip makes a pitcher about eight times more likely to land on the DL this season. But even at that, the rate at which previous disabled list visitors go back on is lower than 50 percent. A pitcher with an injury history is not a certainty to get injured, just a much higher risk. Let me also point out that my model is rather unsophisticated, but a better model would require medical training (which I don’t have) and medical knowledge (which is not public).
The take-home message is one that is probably not very shocking to anyone. An injured body part is more likely to get hurt again. A pitcher who has thrown a lot of pitches is more likely to have a lot of wear and tear on that arm. It’s not rocket science, although I do wonder if people understand the magnitude of the effect size. For those of you preparing for fantasy drafts by combing through the BP player cards, take a look at each pitcher’s injury history and pay attention to how many pitches he’s thrown. Also, pay attention to whether he’s a high or low pitch efficiency guy. There’s a difference.” [Carleton/Baseball Prospectus]
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I contend that the ability to ask questions is enough reason to have access– “So… let’s challenge the value of ‘access.’ What ‘product’ improvements are being delivered for our reporters having access? I can watch every game on TV. I can review the game tapes. I can get press conference transcripts online. The worthless post-game interviews are done by pool reporters and common to all. I get breaking news from national sources via twitter. What I get as a consumer from the beat reporters’ ‘access’ is less news, less analysis. I get a propaganda arm. That’s not working for me.” [Kanick]
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“The Indians are anticipating a high volume of strikeouts from their hitters this season. As long as the team creates runs, it can live with the whiffs.
“We’re going to have some. That’s the way it is,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “Now, the one nice thing that’s changed over the winter is we’ve acquired so much speed that we should be able to manufacture some runs. We are, we’re going to strike out a lot. We have guys that strike out. There’s going to be periods where the team is in a funk or whatever, and you’re going to see a lot of strikeouts. But the good side of that is we have some guys that really can run.” Over the offseason, Cleveland acquired Drew Stubbs (166 strikeouts in 2012), Mark Reynolds (159), Michael Bourn (155) and Nick Swisher (141). The franchise’s record for players with at least 140 strikeouts in a single season is two (Jhonny Peralta and Grady Sizemore in both 2006 and ’07).” [Bastian/MLB.com]
3 Comments
I’m definitely interested to see what happens with Stubbs as he tries to cut down his swing into a shorter and more compact motion. I assume we’ll see less power with more contact, but I wonder to what effect.
“With your speed, you should be hitting the ball on the ground and legging them out. Every time I see you hit one in the air, you owe me 20 push-ups.” – Lou Brown and Tito Francona
“200 push-ups, how am I suppose to swing if I can’t move my arms.” –
Willie Mays Hayes and Stubbs
Sorry I couldn’t resist
if Stubbs hits one in the air, then at least he made contact 🙂