2011 Midseason Grades: Offense
July 11, 2011 at 6:13 am | Posted in A.J. Ellis, Aaron Miles, Andre Ethier, Casey Blake, Dioner Navarro, Eugenio Velez, Hector Gimenez, James Loney, Jamey Carroll, Jamie Hoffmann, Jay Gibbons, Jerry Sands, Juan Castro, Matt Kemp, Rafael Furcal, Rod Barajas, Russ Mitchell, Tony Gwynn, Trent Oeltjen | 54 Comments
The All-Star break is here, and that means it’s everyone’s favorite time of the year: midseason grades. It’s been a tough year for the Dodgers on and off the field, though we do of course have the pleasure of a few exceptionally bright spots. As always, the grades are in relation to what was reasonably expected of the player at the beginning of the season, not in comparison to other players in the bigs. Otherwise, Jose Bautista would get an A, and no one else would get above a Q. Fewer than 50 plate appearances or 10 innings pitched gets you an incomplete.
All stats are via baseball-reference. Today we’ll do hitters, and before the break is over we’ll get to pitchers, management, and one new kind of review. As always, these letter grades are subjective opinions and meant more for fun than anything. Except for Juan Uribe’s. There’s nothing fun about Juan Uribe.
Catchers
Rod Barajas D+ (.220/.262/.385 8hr 0.2 WAR)
And right off the bat, our rating system is being tested. Do I give Barajas an F, because he’s not any good, or a C, because we never expected him to be any good? I’ll go with a D+, because even though he’s underperforming his own mediocre career stats, he was still second on the team in homers until the final game before the break. I suppose that says a lot more about the Dodgers than it does about him, though. Due to the low bar for offense from catching in the bigs, he’s actually slightly above replacement, though it’s hard to look at the 46/8 K/BB without getting a little ill. He’s due to be activated from the disabled list on Friday, allowing us to start up the always fun “Navarro or Ellis?” game again. (It’ll be Navarro sticking, of course.)
Dioner Navarro F (.183/.234/.287 2hr -0.1 WAR)
You don’t need me to go back and really find all of the articles I wrote over the winter asking why he was worth a $1m major-league contract and why he was guaranteed a spot over the likely superior A.J. Ellis, right? Navarro came in with the lowest of expectations, yet after missing the first month with an oblique injury, has somehow still managed to underperform. Despite that, he still manages to come up with the game on the line in the ninth inning nearly every single night. The world is a twisted place.
Fun fact: Navarro is the only player in history with the name “Dioner”. Fun fact #2: he’s still looking for his first hit against a lefty in fourteen tries this season.
A. J. Ellis (C) (.222/.364/.222 0hr -0.1 WAR)
I realize I’ve heaped far more praise on a 30-year-old minor league lifer with absolutely no power than he really deserves, but the Dodger catching situation is dire, and his long minor-league record and short major league stints show an above-average ability to get on base, which is exactly what this lineup is missing. Defensively, I won’t insult your intelligence by citing CERA, but it’s hard to think it’s a coincidence that Chad Billingsley’s mid-season slump turned around precisely when Ellis started being his regular catcher. Too bad he’s almost certainly headed back for Barajas on Friday.
Hector Gimenez (inc.) (.143/.143/.143 0hr -0.1 WAR)
I would like to say something witty or insightful about Hector Gimenez, but that infers that I have absolutely any recollection of him as a Dodger whatsoever. Pass.
Infielders
James Loney (C-) (.268/.311/.342 4hr -0.5 WAR)
I feel weird giving Loney a C-, because his line and a grade in that range suggest that he was his normal mediocre self all season. Far from it; by early May, he was the most hated man in LA since OJ and we were all writing articles about how bad his season was going to be on a historical level. Since then, he’s basically been the best non-Kemp hitter on the team. That doesn’t mean he’s good – hooray, a .751 OPS from a 1B since April 26! – and again, that says a lot about the rest of the players on this team, but nothing tells you more about the plight of the 2011 Dodgers than the fact that their punchless overpaid first baseman is no longer even close to being the biggest issue here.
Jamey Carroll (A+) (.297/.368/.366 0hr 1.6 WAR)
Last season, Carroll had a .718 OPS and was largely hailed as the team MVP for stepping in to cover for Rafael Furcal at shortstop for nearly the entire season. For a 36-year-old career backup who had played in more than 113 just once, it was quite the impressive feat. More impressive? The fact that he’s exceeding that this year, currently with a .734 OPS. In a lower run scoring environment, that’s good for a 111 OPS+. Once again, the team has been crushed by injuries. Once again, Jamey Carroll has risen to the occasion and more. I’m not sure what the future holds for Carroll in Los Angeles – this is the last year of his contract, and unsurprisingly teams are showing trade interest – but he has consistently outperformed expectations. I’ll miss him when he’s gone.
Fun Carroll fact: since you know I have no use for RBI, regard this as more of a fun statistical quirk than any sort of value judgement, but he has somehow managed to step to the plate 311 times and drive in just 8 runners. I suppose that’s what happens when you don’t hit homers and you’re either batting leadoff (behind the pitcher and the horrible bottom of the lineup) or 8th (behind low-OBP guys like Uribe, Barajas, and Loney).
Aaron Miles (A) (.318/.337/.381 1hr 1.1 WAR)
Credit where credit is due: Aaron Miles has been a really, really nice part of this team. I hardly need to remind you about all the jokes we made at his expense when he was signed and in the spring, but after being forced into far more playing time than anyone expected, he’s responded by becoming arguably the 4th-best hitter on the team. (Like Barajas and his homers, that says a lot more about the other hitters on the club, but still). We expected absolutely nothing from him – less than nothing, perhaps – and not only has he stepped up where needed, he led the NL in batting average in June.
It’s not all that simple, of course. .300 average or not, he’s not walking and he provides zero power, so his OPS is just barely over .700, and his .344 BABIP, 35 points over his career average, seems unlikely to hold. So let’s not get too caught up in praise for Miles to pretend he’s actually, you know, good. But for a non-roster guy who was something like the 8th infielder entering the season? Well done, Aaron. Well done.
Hey, you think we can sucker some team into trading for him at the deadline?
Ivan DeJesus, Jr. (inc.) (.188/.235/.188 0hr -0.5 WAR)
So far, DeJesus looks to be this year’s winner of the “Blake DeWitt Memorial LA-to-ABQ Frequent Flyer” award, because he saw three different stints with the big club, including the pleasure of flying all the way to Cincinnati for the pleasure of one pinch-hitting appearance in June. That being the case, you can’t really judge his big-league performance too much, though he also didn’t do a lot to change my perception of him as a bench player at best. Back in ABQ, he’s hitting .304, which is nice, though a .758 OPS in that environment isn’t encouraging.
Fun fact: for a guy whose name isn’t exactly “John Smith“, Ivan DeJesus is neither the best Ivan or the best DeJesus to play in the bigs this year.
Juan Uribe (oh holy good lord, F, and I don’t just mean the letter grade) (.207/.273/.306 4hr 0.4 WAR)
Uribe has been so bad that there’s an entire Tumblr dedicated to how sad he looks and makes us feel. He’s so bad that when an obviously fantastical rumor popped up for about five seconds about how the Dodgers might be looking to send him back to San Francisco, we jumped on it even though we knew it was BS, just for the small amount of hope it brought. He’s been so bad that he had a lousy April (.247/.303/.420) and hasn’t come close to even matching that since. He’s been so bad that of all the players in the bigs with at least 200 plate appearances, only three have a lower TAv than him. He’s been so bad that he has just one homer since April turned into May, and even that came off Brad Penny, so I feel like he was just trolling us. But hey, not like we have to stare at him for 2.5 more years or anything.
The funny part is, he’s actually been so good in the field that it pushes him above replacement level. That 0.4 breaks down into -0.4 oWAR and 0.8 dWAR. It doesn’t make him a good player, and it doesn’t justify the contract, but it’s something. I suppose that something should probably be enough to get him more than an F, but… no.
Rafael Furcal F (.185/.227/.228 1hr -0.5 WAR)
How do you even judge Furcal at this point? It can’t be on health, because he’s managed to end up on the disabled list twice more this year (though at least it wasn’t his back this time). It’s hard to do so on production, since he’s constantly either just about to go on the disabled list or just coming back from it. I suppose the fact that he’s not in a full body cast is something, but that line above… yeesh. Anyone who’s still dreaming of trading him to someone at the deadline probably needs to wake up because unfortunately, Furcal’s best days are behind him. As, probably, are his days of being able to obtain health insurance when he’s no longer a ballplayer.
Dee Gordon C+ (.232/.250/.280 0hr 0.0 WAR)
We all knew Gordon was recalled far too soon, and it showed: he was overmatched at the plate and made some critical errors in the field. He also brought the kind of excitement that we haven’t seen in years, if ever. If you have any doubt about that, just head on over to this GIF-heavy recap of the amazing feats he pulled off in just a single game. A lot of players end up with 0.0 WAR because they’ve been boring or barely playable, and haven’t contributed anything either positive or negative. That’s not the case with Gordon; he did plenty of things that hurt the team, but he made up for them with a ton of positives. That’s how it all evens out, and for a raw 23-year-old, yeah, I’ll take that.
Juan Castro A (.286/.333/.286 0hr 0.0 WAR)
Castro gave us the greatest gift of all, retiring this week before subjecting us to a fifth stint as a Dodger. That alone gets the man an A.
Casey Blake D- (.243/.346/.386 4hr 0.3 WAR)
Things the 37-year-old Blake has been on the disabled list for this season: sore oblique, infected elbow, pinched nerve in neck, Legionnaire’s disease, athlete’s thumb, bone-itis, ringworm infestation, osteoporosis. Also, he narrowly avoided a brush with the law for continually yelling at those damned kids to get off his lawn.
Casey Blake is old.
Russ Mitchell (inc.) (.115/.258/.269 1hr 0.1 WAR)
Mitchell has 74 MLB plate appearances in his short career. He has nine hits, and though one was a game-tying homer in the 9th inning against the White Sox earlier this year, that’s good for an OPS+ of 29. That’s an unfairly small sample size, of course, but he’s also hitting .244 in ABQ right now. Russ Mitchell: nope.
Jerry Sands (C-) (.200/.294/.328 2hr -0.4 WAR)
Like Gordon, Sands was probably promoted too soon, and like Gordon, he didn’t really provide results, but did provide hope for the future. All of the stories we heard about his maturity and plate approach seemed to be true, yet so far it hasn’t translated into production. Sands is crushing the ball once again in ABQ, and with the Dodger offense still stagnant, we’ll see him back up in blue before very long.
Tony Gwynn (B-) (.256/.316/.326 0hr 0.6 WAR)
It’s been something of an interesting season for Gwynn. He was his normal Gwynn-like self in April (i.e. bad), hitting .264/.291/.377 before going completely off the rails in May: he managed just two hits all month and received only four starts, as Sands took over the bulk of the left field work. At that point, with his batting average below .200 and with nothing to his name other than two game-saving catches, we started wondering how long he’d stick on the roster, especially when he didn’t get into any of the first three games in June. On June 4, he entered in the 8th inning and got two hits in a game that went 11 innings. He got a hit the next game, and the next, and before you knew it he’d hit in 7 of the first 8 games of the month. It would get better – since June 26, which was two weeks ago yesterday, he’s had five multihit games, including three with three and one with four. Now that Sands and Gordon are both in the minors, he’s effectively taken over as both the starting left fielder and leadoff hitter. Because he owns the only plus glove in what is a subpar defensive outfield, this was the outcome we’d always wanted. Now let’s see if he can really keep it up.
Marcus Thames F (.197/.243/.333 2hr -0.6 WAR)
Injured? Yep, twice, even if only one led to a DL stint. Poor on defense? You better believe it. Unproductive on offense? Well, the line above doesn’t lie, right? I sure hope he’s renting, not buying.
Jay Gibbons F (.255/.323/.345 1hr -0.5 WAR)
Well, he got DFA’d and claimed by no one, placing him back in AAA, so it couldn’t have been that good of a first half, right? You want to feel bad because his vision problems really derailed last season’s feel-good story right from the start… but then you remember he wasn’t really ever that good in the first place. The best part of that -0.5 WAR is that his oWAR is actually 0.1… meaning he’s really, really bad in the field.
JaMarcus Gwybbons, Jr. D-
Remember when the left field situation was going to be a nice trio between Gwynn, Thames, and Gibbons? Sheesh. Until Gwynn’s hot spurt over the last few weeks, they combined to offer absolutely nothing. Less than nothing, if you just went by WAR. At various points this season, we’ve made arguments for DFA’ing all three of them. Count this under “plans that were unlikely to work and then did, in fact, not work.”
Trent Oeltjen (inc.) (.265/.386/.441 1hr 0.6 WAR)
Hey, remember when Oeltjen went 4-4 with a homer in that 15-0 drubbing of Minnesota? That was rad, right? Unfortunately for him, he had 3 hits in 20 PA before that game, and just 2 hits in 20 PA since.
Xavier Paul (inc.) (.273/.273/.273 0hr -0.1 WAR)
Paul’s ultimate contribution to the 2011 Dodgers is managing to grab a left field start before his departure, thus helping us push towards our ultimate goal of setting a record for most left fielders in a season. He’s got an 84 OPS+ for Pittsburgh since being picked up, though he’s improved his OPS in each full month there.
Jamie Hoffmann (inc.) (.000/.000/.000 0hr -0.2 WAR)
The man got four plate appearances. Let’s not infer too much from that. I still think he could be a pretty useful fourth outfielder in the bigs, as he’s a well-regarded defender having another high-OBP season in the minors, this time with a little pop.
Eugenio Velez (inc.) (.000/.000/.000 0hr -0.2 WAR)
Baron Ironglove von Pickoff. Still can’t believe he’s a Dodger. Or a major leaguer. Or a human being.
Matt Kemp (A+++) (.313/.398/.584 22hr 27sb 5.7 WAR)
I know you come here for informed baseball analysis and all (uh, I hope), and I could write 10,000 words on why Kemp is awesome. I will at some point, and 9,990 of those words will probably be about how I always said that he’d have a monstrous season this year, even as half the city was tearing him apart last year. There will be a time for that sort of insight, but for now, let’s leave it at this: 91 games into the season, Kemp has 5.7 WAR. That puts him on pace for about 9.9 WAR over the full season… a mark bettered by just two Dodgers in history. Yeah. His season is that good. Remember when everyone wanted to trade him, secure in the knowledge that he had neither the baseball IQ or work ethic to become a star? Yeah, me neither.
Matt Kemp is a shiny golden god.
Andre Ethier (B+) (.311/.383/.463 9hr 1.9 WAR)
Ethier, without question, represented one of the more difficult grades to give out. 30 game hitting streak? Yes, please. .383 OBP? Delicious. While his OPS is nearly 40 points off his 2008 career high, the lower offensive environment this year means that it’s good for a career-best 141 OPS+, so hooray for that. No, he’s not hitting lefties (.242/.282/.368), but he never hits lefties, so that’s not much of a surprise. All in all, it’s been a very solid year from one of the two main offensive threats this club has.
Yet… it feels like something is missing. Prior to his two-homer day yesterday, he’d hit just seven dingers, and his SLG is down for the third year in a row. It’s certainly not enough of a problem to criticize him, hence the good grade, and perhaps yesterday’s outburst was the start of something new. I just can’t help shaking the feeling that is very unpopular among the casual fans who love him so much: Ethier is a very good player, but not a superstar. We’ll need to keep that in mind when his contract is up. I don’t want to get too down on him, though: right now, he’s the second best player on this team, and that in itself is quite valuable.
******
Don’t forget: Matt Kemp is in the Home Run Derby tonight and will be live tweeting @TheRealMattKemp throughout.
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RBI’s are totally overrated, but in Carroll’s case there is a reason why he only has 8. He is 7 for 43 with RISP (Average and slugging both .163; .134 below his batting average). Not good at all.
Comment by MCS— July 11, 2011 #
311 plate appearances and just 43 with RISP is a far bigger part of Carroll only having 8 RBI. If he had 7 more hits in those 43 ABs that would lead to a .326 average but just 10 or so more RBI, and still just about 20 RBI. His spot in the order is the biggest culprit.
Comment by Table— July 11, 2011 #
Actually he has had more plate appearances hitting second than eighth (most at bats in lead off). His RBI’s have come batting first or second (185 at bats). The issue to me is not how many RBI’s he has, but his average is a lot worse even taking into account the small sample size.
Comment by MCS— July 11, 2011 #
I never said which spot he was hitting…
However your comment supports my point. The first and second spots in the order offer very few chances with runners in scoring position. It really is too small of a sample size to matter. 5-10 hits makes his numbers look completely different. Luck reigns.
Comment by Table— July 11, 2011 #
yeah but if he had 20 RBI’s it wouldn’t have been brought up that he only had 20 RBI’s because it would have been good for his batting order and chances….
Comment by Jon#7#22— July 11, 2011 #
Biggest culprit is bad luck, magnified by the small sample. His BABIP with RISP is .200. He’s still getting on base at a .345 clip with runners in scoring position.
Comment by Dave Pomerantz— July 12, 2011 #
I feel like Barajas should be closer to C because he has been about what I would have expected. if He had hit in the 100s and with less power then we could talk Ds and Fs.
Ellis seems like he could fit into the Josh Thole, John Jaso, Ryan Hanigan mold of modern catchers. While he is likely inferior to those three, he’s still the best the Dodgers have. Signing a Ramon Hernandez, or bringing in another AAAA player like the Phillies Erik Kratz could be the Dodgers best options for C next year. Also keep in mind that J.D. Closser is only one year older than Ellis. No reason he couldn’t contend for the backup catcher job.
Loney might not be the biggest problem, but he still offers too little upside for the Dodgers to be contend enough to keep him beyond 2011.
I don’t see any reason to not trade Carroll, even if it lands the Dodgers close to nothing, Carroll should get a shot at the playoffs. The chance that he returns to LA post a trade would be the same as it would be should the Dodgers keep him and he hits free agency. He would still have to show a willingness to return to an LA Dodger team that is hitting bottom, hardly what he expected when he signed.
Comment by Table— July 11, 2011 #
The trouble I have is if we trade Loney who will play 1B and be an upgrade (the Dodgers are not going to be able to get Fielder, Pujols etc)? Is it worth it to keep Loney for 1 more year and hope his “hot” streak continues so the Dodgers will be able to trade him next year and get a better return?
Comment by MCS— July 11, 2011 #
No. He makes too much this year (4.8 million) and stands to make even more next year. Not acceptable for a player who is below replacement level. We’ve been waiting on his bat for too long as it is and we can get a player to perform similarly for much less money.
Comment by Alex— July 11, 2011 #
It’s not THAT much of a hot streak, he just has been hitting .751 OPS since the bad start which is below avg for 1st base. To me the only way you keep Loney is if at the end of the year he he’s hitting .320+ .380+OBP and SLG above .450 since he will cost at least 6 million per year in arbitration.
Comment by Jon#7#22— July 11, 2011 #
I had a look at possible Loney replacements in this TBLA post:
http://www.truebluela.com/2011/6/21/2235231/searching-for-the-dodgers-2012-first-baseman
Comment by Table— July 11, 2011 #
Nicely done, Table.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— July 12, 2011 #
Great job. And bonus points for the boneitis reference!
Comment by cjw2323— July 11, 2011 #
Second.
Comment by Ryan— July 11, 2011 #
Nice work. I am in agreement with most of it.
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I’m still laughing at the Casey Blake review.
Comment by Rory— July 11, 2011 #
The thing about Ethier is that it really appears that he doesn’t enjoy playing in LA. Even when things were good, he always was the sour puss that thought the glass was half empty. My wife likes him and I’ve tried to support him but I just have a feeling that he would love to be traded to AZ. He knows that he would put up monster numbers in that ballpark and would remain a hometown hero. I’d love an Ethier for Upton trade but I’m also willing to fill holes with an Ethier and Loney for Montero and Goldschmidt move. Loney’s power could develop in the better hitting environment of AZ. I hate trading within the division but this could work well for both teams.
Comment by west coast ram— July 11, 2011 #
That trade is not going to happen. It would seem an Ethier to Arizona move would be a fit at first glance. But the reality is that they don’t really need an outfielder. Young, Upton, and Parra have done well. Ethier may seem like he’s much better than Parra, but once Parra’s stellar defense is accounted for the difference becomes too small for Arizona to want to give up much in terms of prospects.
Comment by Table— July 11, 2011 #
…..and yet they are still behind a SF team that hits like the Dodgers. They are very weak at 1st base and yet they haven’t called up Goldschmidt. Ethier and Loney as a combo package would be big upgrades for them and balance out their lineup. I’m sure wishful thinking on my part but I dont’ want to end up paying big money for both of these players.
Comment by west coast ram— July 11, 2011 #
I am fine with trading them Ethier and Loney, and they could be interested. However the won’t be giving up their starting catcher, or their top hitting prospect. More likely to get Brandon Allen and some of their other prospects. Especially considering that Loney doesn’t really have any trade value.
Comment by Table— July 11, 2011 #
You could be right, I have no interest in Allen as his swing and miss rate is bad (if i remember correctly). It’s hard to find a great fit for Ethier as I think that the Dodgers need either a young or MLB ready catcher or 3B in return.
Comment by west coast ram— July 11, 2011 #
As much as Arizona might like Ethier in their lineup, and they would for a number of reasons, Parra can be had for about $10 million less than Andre.
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Has anybody checked out Upton’s contract numbers? They got him locked up long term with a back loaded deal. If he comes through, they will build around him. If he doesn’t the unloading of him won’t happen.until after next year when he has 3 years and about $40 million left on the deal.
Comment by Rory— July 11, 2011 #
I love this Ethier for Upton posts. What makes people think that teams will want to give up a better outfielder in exchange for a worse one? The idea is the both teams are supposed to think that they’re benefitting.
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Also, how could we trade him to one of the teams that is widely considered to have one of the best outfields and need more pitching help than offense help? There’s got to be a hitting starved team who really needs him.
Comment by Bip— July 11, 2011 #
They were shopping Upton all winter long. The fact that he is having a good first half might have him off the market or maybe just a chance to sell high. There may have to be a pitching componet to get AZ interested.
Comment by west coast ram— July 11, 2011 #
I think we all understand that a straight Ethier for Upton trade would never happen. It would have to include at least 1, maybe 2 top pitching prospects. I’m against that.
Comment by Dave Pomerantz— July 12, 2011 #
Kemp hitting 3rd in ASG!
Comment by Wil— July 11, 2011 #
I think you’re being a bit harsh with Oeltjen. He walks allot. Also I think it’s sort of a double standard to be down on him becasue a bunch of his hits occurred in a single game. Does that mean he was a different player for one game? Or that hits matter more when spread out? It’s really just luck and small sample size, though I would say that he has struck out too much as of late. I still like his offensive upside.
Comment by Table— July 11, 2011 #
I actually like him a lot too and wish he’d get more playing time. It’s hard to argue he’s done much outside that one game though.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— July 11, 2011 #
Not to be a suck up, but MSTI gets an A+ for the first half. Crappy team, horrible ownership situation and you still give plenty of reasons to keep coming back. Well done MSTI.
Comment by The Hatch— July 11, 2011 #
Thank you! Always appreciated.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— July 11, 2011 #
Your ratings are always one of the hilites of ANY blogs. But this year I have to disagree strongly with your ratings of the catchers. I think Your Hatred (although justified) of Barajas and Navarro has caused you to stray from your own standards of ‘What was expected’. We expected Navarro to be terrible-He hit that target exactly so I would be forced to give in an ‘A’ (please I am hoping not to get hit by lightning). I believe he and Kemp came in closest to preseason predictions, so they deserve the A rating. I would give Barajas an A-, because he was a little less than expected. I would give Ellis a D, because I expected more from him and perhaps if he had more of a chance would have performed better. As you might say-’Just sayin’
Comment by DAVID S— July 11, 2011 #
Thanks. But if Navarro and Barajas did exactly what was expected, that would be good for a C. C is average, no surprises. A would be if they exceeded expectations.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— July 11, 2011 #
It is not totally relative. You wouldn’t give me a C because I batted .000/.000/.000 if I was called up (maybe .000/.025/.000, I might be able to get hit by a pitch). If it was totally relative to past performance, then Andre Ethier would deserve a D, but it’s not fair to give the second best offensive player on the team a D. A known F player who plays like an F player gets an F, and the best player on the team gets an A, even if we knew he’d be the best player.
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Also, we knew Kemp would be good, but we didn’t know he’d be this good. I think three plusses was actually playing it a little safe.
Comment by Bip— July 11, 2011 #
I think you guys are overthinking my fun, unscientific, subjective rating system.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— July 11, 2011 #
Preposterous.
Comment by Bip— July 11, 2011 #
Ok, like the debt debate I am willing to compromise on ‘C’ for them
Comment by DAVID S— July 11, 2011 #
Yup i’d give the catchers a C, expected. Nicely done and brings the humor MSTI! Can’t believe Boooribe actually has a positive WAR *smh*
Comment by DodgersKings323— July 11, 2011 #
This has been a painful year to watch, though I knew it wouldn’t be good. When the hometown Nats feel like they’re tearing it up and you realize they’re only .500, you know LA has been sad by comparison. But I still suck it up and read MSTI daily because…I have to. Excellent writing, great analysis without being too Stat-O-Matic, I feel like there’s someone who understands what it’s like to root for the out-of-towners. Don’t stop writing — I can’t stop reading at least until they get good again, and it’s fun. (BTW, hell of a call on Morse. He has been unbelievable for DC…)
I miss Dodger Blues but I can only shovel dirt on the dead for so long before I get a sore back.
Irony of ironies. Work will probably have me relocating soon to just south of Vero. Never went to spring training, been a Dodger fan since I was 7, and now…arghhhh.
Comment by Tom Callahan— July 11, 2011 #
thanks!
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— July 12, 2011 #
I know its coming later,But Ned gets a vote of confidence today. He was clueless as EXPECTED so he gets a “C”
Comment by DAVID S— July 11, 2011 #
This blog has turned into one “I toldja so” post after another. Reign it in, Mike; it’s getting repetitive.
Comment by Corey— July 11, 2011 #
It’s not Mike’s fault he’s always right.
Comment by Brandon— July 11, 2011 #
He is willing to take his shots when he has been wrong about someone’s performance.
Comment by west coast ram— July 11, 2011 #
You may not be totally wrong, Corey, but fair warning then: you are going to HATE tomorrow’s post.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— July 12, 2011 #
These are the ones I disagree with and why:
James Loney (D): Even with his improvement from “ghastly” to “mediocre,” I think that considering how bad he is for his position, and the precious few other skills he has, he can’t be above the D range. He’s not even hitting well compared to his career numbers.
AJ Ellis (B-): Nine walks against seven strikeouts? I think that demonstrates more than his .222 average does. This makes it even more criminal when he gets sent down instead of Navarro getting DFA’d. (Though Navarro’s been bad enough that he’s in “even Ned might DFA him” territory.)
Casey Blake (C): That’s because I’m not accounting for health of the player, just performance when he’s healthy, and I think he’s been playing while not healthy, which is causing his numbers to decline.
Andre Ethier (B-): The drop in power, continued inability to hit lefties, and poor defense doesn’t warrant more than a B-/C+ to me.
Comment by Bip— July 11, 2011 #
You have to remember that Mike factors in how he feels emotionally about a player into his ratings (thus why he says they should not be taken completely seriously). He gave Juan Castro an A for retiring. I think it’s hard to give Andre Ethier a B- when all year he’s been referred to along with Kemp as the Dodger’s “big two”. In addition, I think he gave Matt Kemp an A+++ because Kemp is having such an exciting year. He predicted before the season started that Matt Kemp was going to have a monster year, so if a C = expectations met, then Matt Kemp should get around an A.
Comment by MfA— July 11, 2011 #
I don’t disagree with his rating of Matt Kemp. If I did, I’d have put it here. If anything, Kemp deserves more plusses.
Comment by Bip— July 12, 2011 #
Mike, I love the writing, it’s analytical and well done, but also humorous and easy to read. I personally think you’re a great inspiration to potential writers, as your sarcasm is somewhat easy to replicate (assuming it’s not overused). I’d definitely say I’ve tried to emulate you (as well as others) in posts I’ve written.
Anyway, just thought I’d say that I mostly agree, although I might make a couple grades just a tick higher (RoBar might get a C- from me, Casey Blake a D+, but that’s kind of splitting hairs).
The only place I would disagree is that you say there’s nothing fun about Juan Uribe. Emo Juan Uribe makes Juan Uribe fun, and for me, I love watching him swing. His swing brings a smile to my face, and makes me giggle, even when I know that a Double Play is going to be the result. The swing is just so damn fun to watch. And when he actually connects and hits a long ball? Pure excellence.
Comment by Matthew Faris— July 11, 2011 #
His swing is what I would expect of a girl.
Comment by Bob Springer— July 12, 2011 #
Nah, his swing is what I would expect of a football player or something who’s never touched a bat before. JUST SWING HARD!!!
Comment by Dave Pomerantz— July 12, 2011 #
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Pingback by MSTI’s 2011 in Review: Catcher « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— October 3, 2011 #
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Pingback by MSTI’s 2011 in Review: Shortstop « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— October 13, 2011 #
[...] He was voted as a starter into the All-Star Game, and he participated in the Home Run Derby. His midseason grade here was predictably giddy: Matt Kemp (A+++) (.313/.398/.584 22hr 27sb 5.7 WAR) I know you come [...]
Pingback by MSTI’s 2011 in Review: Center Field « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— October 20, 2011 #
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Pingback by MSTI’s 2011 in Review: Right Field « Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— October 21, 2011 #