Sports Illustrated Finally Sees What We’ve Been Saying Forever

June 12, 2008 at 12:03 am | Posted in baseball prospectus, Juan Pierre sucks, Russell Martin, screenshots | 6 Comments

And of course, by “Sports Illustrated“, I do mean “Baseball Prospectus“, since this was written for SI by BP‘s Joe Sheehan, but still – plenty of the uninitiated will finally get their eyeballs on this.

This is a topic that’s near and dear to me, because I believe I said just about exactly the same thing back on May 19th:

Juan Pierre, 2008 batting leadoff:
.180/.250/.208 .458 OPS 28 OPS+
Juan Pierre, 2008 batting second:
.432/.412/.486 .998 OPS 179 OPS+

(snip)

Honestly, I wouldn’t mind putting Russell Martin leadoff – his OBP is up to an outstanding .444, and when you consider how bad he was for the first few weeks of the season, that should tell you how well he’s playing right now. Plus, he can run! But no – we’ve got to have that classic speed leadoff hitter at the top of the lineup. Even if he can’t get on base to use that speed.

And on May 12th, when Furcal was DL’d…

Get ready to see a whole lot more Juan Pierre. Without our real leadoff hitter, there’s no way Joe’s going to pass up the chance to use JP at leadoff every single day. I’m serious; I’d be floored if Pierre gets even a single game off before Furcal’s return. I admit, we don’t really have another option that stands out to leadoff; but why not give Russell Martin a crack at it? He’s got the second-highest OBP of anyone besides Furcal, and it’s not like he’s a liability on the bases. But I can’t imagine Torre ever trying that. No, it’s going to be JP all the time.

Ugh. I made that last post exactly a month ago, and Pierre really has led off every last game. But hey, at least the offense has been cruising since then. Right? Right?

- Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness

6 Comments »

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I’m becoming more convinced every day that Pierre is the single biggest problem with this team and they will never win anything with him out there. Haven’t got as a good a laugh in ages as when McAnaulty was on second on the liner to left and Vinny proclaimed “They have a chance to double him off second.” Granted, my years from being conceived grandchild could have triple clutched and doubled him off, but not the armless wonder.

Comment by Mike— June 12, 2008 #

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He’s certainly not the only problem (SS, among others), but yeah – I agree. This team would be so much better with a lot less Juan Pierre.

Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— June 12, 2008 #

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[...] know… that he gets on base?! Instead of rehashing the stats, just look at the post right below this one. Until proven otherwise, Pierre is not a legitimate leadoff hitter. He has not been close to [...]

Pingback by Random Stupid Quotes And Stupid People: Joe Torre « Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness— June 12, 2008 #

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Great quote, thanks for scanning the SI piece. “No amount of speed will make a .316 OBP in the leadoff spot viable.” Love it.

Comment by SOSG Sax— June 12, 2008 #

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Maybe they’re trying to showcase Pierre before they trade him? God I hope so.

Comment by Harold— June 12, 2008 #

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I wonder how Colletti managed to get Joe brainwashed into thinking that Pierre is anything more than a fifth outfielder with some speed? It must’ve happened the day after Torre anointed Ethier the starting left fielder. Colletti needs Pierre to play because if Torre is sitting ET, then the McCourt’s might realize that their money is being wasted. Of course, they have so much as squawked about Schmidt, Nomar, The Michelin Man or any of the other expensive signings by the Toupee. Maybe he has them brainwashed also. Could Colletti be an evil genius sent here by Brian Sabean and Bud Lite to keep the Dodgers from being anything other than a mediocre team?

Comment by grabarkewitz— June 13, 2008 #

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