Well, At Least Manny’s “Heating Up”
September 10, 2009 at 8:55 am | Posted in Manny Ramirez | 8 Comments
If there was any one thing more ludicrous than the “Colletti failed by not going out to get a mythical ‘ace’ pitcher that never really existed, and why hasn’t he perfected human cloning yet and acquired the rights to the offspring of Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax who will rule us all” argument, it was the idea that post-suspension Manny was somehow not even a league-average hitter, topped by the fantastic suggestion yesterday that Manny should be benched for Juan Pierre. Yet, as we briefly mentioned, Manny’s been just fine lately, and yesterday’s opposite field homer off Dan Haren just added more evidence to that.
So let’s look at Manny’s season, and keep in mind that his “slump” really started when he took a 90+ MPH fastball to the hand in the last week of July, not when he came back from his suspension. It doesn’t make for as sexy of a story, I’ll grant you, but it’s hard to overlook how much something like that can hurt a hitter.
| Split | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | BAbip |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April/March | 98 | 78 | 19 | 29 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 14 | .372 | .500 | .654 | 1.154 | .407 |
| May | 22 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 3 | .214 | .455 | .571 | 1.026 | .182 |
| July | 91 | 79 | 10 | 22 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 17 | 10 | 20 | .278 | .374 | .557 | .931 | .315 |
| August | 121 | 103 | 16 | 31 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 24 | .301 | .405 | .476 | .881 | .360 |
| Sept/Oct | 30 | 24 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | .250 | .400 | .625 | 1.025 | .188 |
So there’s no doubt that August was his worst month, and clearly the downward sprial in OPS in each month is worrisome – though not, as the uninformed like to say, a direct result of his lack of “assistance”.
The best part, though? In his “lousy” August, he still had a line of .301/.405/.476, which is hardly disastrous, and while his .881 OPS isn’t what you’re used to from him, it still would have put him just outside the top 20 in the NL OPS rankings, ahead of guys like Matt Kemp, David Wright, Carlos Lee, and Dan Uggla. In his worst month!
Now, he’s really started to heat up in the first week of September, and in fact, over the last few weeks. Let’s now look at just the three post-suspension segments of Manny’s second half:
July 3 – July 31 (post-suspension, pre-HBP): .333/.429/.688 1.116 OPS
July 22 – Aug. 25 (playing through a sore hand): .261/.351/.409 .760 OPS
Aug 26 – Sept. 9 (welcome back, Manny): .302/.455/.651 1.106 OPS
Oh, and in September, he’s been hampered by a .188 BABIP, which is only likely to rise, so he could get better. Which means that A), so much for your steroid conspiracy theories, and B) a hot Manny can go a long way towards alleviating any starting rotation issues we might see.
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You know, it may be tempting fate to put up the magic number graphic. After all, in case you haven’t noticed – the Dodgers are BLOWING IT.
Comment by shmolnick— September 10, 2009 #
Tempting fate, probably.
Blowing it, not really. Check out DT today. Besides, this wouldn’t even be an issue if the Rockies didn’t suddenly turn into the ’98 Yankees.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— September 10, 2009 #
Well okay, maybe blowing it is too harsh. Perhaps “guaranteeing a first round playoff exit” would be more accurate.
Comment by shmolnick— September 10, 2009 #
The Cardinals are the clear favorite for the pennant as of now. 8 : (
Comment by Wilson Fonasty-Foshow— September 10, 2009 #
Steiner said last night that had the Blue won, we’d be 27 games over .500 — tying the highest point we’d reached all season. I suppose the big problem is we peaked too soon –while St. Louis & Colorado are both hitting their stride now.
We need a big brawl to get the guys fired up again.
Comment by VegasBlue— September 10, 2009 #
Why is everybody freaking out about not winning the division or “guaranteeing a first round playoff exit”? The truth is, the Dodgers are too talented a team to be stomped on and forgotten by the rest of the NL West without a fight. I’m not saying we’re a lock for the playoffs, but it’s doubtful the other teams keep up this run of good luck, just like it’s doubtful that we keep up this string of offensive ineptitude. They’ll come around, the rest of you just stop freaking out!
Comment by The Fury— September 11, 2009 #
It seems Manny’s numbers have failed when it is a clutch situation. RISP for intstance. I wish you would’ve included that. He seems to fail often in those situations, which is what most of the fans remember.
Comment by LAFord— September 11, 2009 #
I don’t think people are freaking out. Their just expressing conservative concern. I myself I’m trying to express my yearning to be held and read to at night. I’d like to hear the musings of sweet-sweet successful score boxes that end with happy endings (tee hee) for the Blue and terrible endings for the Rockies.
Also Laford I wish you had included numbers to back up your criticism, not that I dont believe but because I don’t have time to look that up not that I’m late for work…
- Needy in New York
Comment by Wilson Fonasty-Foshow— September 11, 2009 #