Semi-Collected Thoughts from Last Night’s Game

By Matt Imbrogno On June 8, 2011 · 6 Comments · In Game Recaps, General Musings

Just a few things that ran through my head during the game last night…

… John Sterling had a line that really got to me last night. After had his second hit off of –which I assume was essentially an infield single since knocked it down and Jorge beat it out–Sterling referenced Posada’s 0 for 2011 vs. lefties, quickly mentioned Jorge’s two hits and said they were proof that stats are “worthless.” He could’ve been joking a bit, but it’s not like we haven’t heard this sort of sentiment from Sterling before. I do know what he’s getting at and all but it’s just so annoying to hear. Meh, whatever; it’s not that important.

–Should be a platoon player? I’m a bit torn on this. 2011 has seen him produce a 95 wRC+ which isn’t great but in both 2009 and 2010, he had wRC+ marks of greater than 100 (108 and 103 respectively). He may not tear the cover off the ball against lefties, but he’s not embarrassing himself against them (career .353 OBP vs. LHP). Considering the value he can add defensively, I think he should be playing every day with getting the platoon DH spot.

–It seems like the Yankees put weak swings on every 2-0/3-1 count I saw them in last night. This is complete confirmation bias, I know, so I went to B-R to check the split out. The league has a .930 OPS after a 2-0 count. The Yankees? .986. After a 3-1 count: the AL? 1.061. NYY? 1.093. We just notice the failures in 2-0/3-1 counts since they, obviously, go against what we want to happen and what normally does happen.

–The three outs the Yankees made in the ninth inning were horribly frustrating. swung at ball four in a 3-1 count after Papelbon had just walked Brett Gardner (why weren’t you running when Jeets was up, dude?). It’s easier said than done, but Jeter has to know not to swing in that spot, even if it’s 3-1. striking out wasn’t all that bad, but he was way late on the fastball that struck him out. Then, Jorge Posada had a nice little poke to plate Gardner and bring the tying run to the plate. , the tying run, started the AB out by missing his pitch by juuuust that much. On 0-1, he took a very hittable fastball. He had a great take on a tough splitter, then ended the game on a ridiculously weak/indecisive hack on a pitch that was borderline at best. Those Jeter and A-Rod ABs were disappointing to say the least.

–Is it time to get a start? He did a great job out of the bullpen last night and I think the Yankees ought to give him a look in a spot start some time soon.

–This was a tough loss since the Yankees brought the tying run to the plate, but it’s hard to win when the starter gives up three runs before his batters can come to the plate. Oh well. Go get ‘em tonight, A.J.

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6 Responses to Semi-Collected Thoughts from Last Night’s Game

  1. Goose54 says:
    June 8, 2011 at 11:27 am

    Far be it for me to be the guy to defend Sterling, but what he probably meant (I didn’t hear his broadcast as I was at the game) was just because he’s 0-whatever against lefties, doesn’t mean he’ll never get a hit against an LHP.

    I’ve heard a lot of that, mostly from co-workers – that Posada can’t hit lefties, because he hasn’t done so yet. It’s a bad interpretation of the stats.

    [Reply]

    Matt Imbrogno Reply:
    June 8th, 2011 at 11:50 am

    I agree, and I think you’re right, but he’s shown this sort of disdain for stats before.

    [Reply]

    Goose54 Reply:
    June 8th, 2011 at 12:26 pm

    Yeah, I know, and it’s a shame, but most broadcasters cater to the lowest common denominator – which is going to be the casual fan.

    During the day game on YES last Wednesday they had one of those text-message polls that asked something along the lines of:

    Which stats are better?
    1. Standard (ERA, OBP, etc)
    2. Sabermetrics (ERA+, wOBP, etc)

    The result was something like 70% for “standard” stats. I think it was John Flaherty who defended Sabermetrics, but overwhelmingly people don’t know much about statistics in general – never mind how to apply it to a sport.

    [Reply]

  2. Professor Longnose says:
    June 8, 2011 at 1:09 pm

    John Sterling sells ignorance, and it’s infuriating.

    Talking about stats, I was recently rereading part of Bill James’ book on managers, and there’s an article in it about trying to put together a table of stats for managers, a sort of back of a baseball card, so that fans will have an easily graspable set of values with which to understand how different managers use different strategies. He talks about how announcers could introduce the stats and get the standards in several areas well known, so that discussions of managers would be easier.

    The book was written ten years ago, and not even baseball-reference.com is using manager stats that have anything to do with strategy, or anything other than wins/losses and standings. We’ve got a long way to go.

    [Reply]

  3. Semi-Collected Thoughts from Last Night's Game | New York Yankees … | Yankees News Source says:
    June 8, 2011 at 3:03 pm

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  4. roadrider says:
    June 8, 2011 at 7:50 pm

    Sterling and Waldman love to talk about how they disdain “stats” but then make a point of announcing each players stats as he comes to bat or in to pitch. Sterling’s stance on stats is comical coming from a guy who thinks his corny, self-promoting home run calls (which often misfire when the ball fails to leave the park) are good sports announcing. I just love it when some media columnist points out how Sterling’s radio calls have no relationship to what actually happened on the field. Even his partner Waldman got into the act last week when Sterling spent a few minutes describing how the drumbeat in Oakland was pre-recorded and Waldman had to point out the guy with the drum in the bleachers to him.

    As for Gardner playing every day – I kind of agree with you that he probably should because of his clear defensive superiority in the field over Jones. However, Gardner has middling (at best) offensive numbers and it isn’t all accounted for by his bad start (he had been up to roughly .260/.360/.400 before slumping badly) so I can’t really get too excited about him sitting out against a tough lefty so the DH spot can be used by A-Rod or Tex or, as I hope will be the case soon, Montero while Jones plays LF.

    [Reply]

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