Comments on: Quantifying Gerald Laird

By: Dusty Ryan to Padres - Page 2 - MotownSports.com Message Board

Dusty Ryan to Padres - Page 2 - MotownSports.com Message Board — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:06:18 +0000

[...] in their WAR). Wins above Replacement: Gerald Laird And, Bill's write up on Laird is good. Quantifying Gerald Laird __________________ Dreaming about a repeat of 1984, 1968, 1945 and 1935 "You must be the [...]

By: RPS

RPS — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:48:17 +0000

Ellipsis troll is fond of the ellipsis.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:17:41 +0000

The Tigers do not have any money to do anything next year..They will have to rely on Zumaya and perry in the Pen and Sizemore at 2nd…Unless they deal a player, somebody wants. JV and Edwin Jackson are both going to arbitration or they will sign rich new deals…WE ARE BROKE…18 Mill for Maggs was such a waste, we need defense at the corner outfield positions, some speed…but, we will be a worse version of the 2009 Tigers.
Why? We have no money

By: Coleman

Coleman — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 03:49:46 +0000

Nice try Kathy but no way you were any older than 1 or 2 when Bob Gibson retired.

By: Coleman

Coleman — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 03:45:20 +0000

Well I don’t know what you know either Coach Jim. But I DO know that I now have something I can think about while I watch someone pitching that I never did before, so thanks for that (by the way if that’s something Knapp noticed and corrected, that’s exactly the sort of thing fans never see; we just see results, which, really, isn’t the worst perspective, is it? Still…).

That’s what’s cool about baseball, and about having a place like this where so many people knowledgable in different ways grace us with their presence. (And I might as well make explicit the implicit–props to billfer for doing such a good job running the place).

By: Coach Jim

Coach Jim — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 02:01:08 +0000

Actually, I have a theory what happened to Galarraga this year. One thing a pitcher can do to help “hide” the ball is to keep his glove and throwing hand at the same vertical level as they rise from the break point (about cup level, where the hands break apart) to the full-extension point (where both arms are outstretched like a scarecrow. Some pitchers knowingly use their glove to block the view the batter might have of the ball. In this way, the batter never sees the ball until it’s on the way to the batter. In ’08 I think Galarraga did this quite well. Early this year, I think his arms were not level; he was tilted slightly backwards. This caused the ball to be visible below the glove.

Let me add that later in the year, he seemed to have corrected this “tilt” but his results seemed to be about the same…so what do I know?

By: billfer

billfer — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:38:49 +0000

I believe there is probably some effect to “handling a staff” but I think the effect is pretty minimal. The fact that numerous studies have failed to really identify such an effect isn’t a reason to believe that it doesn’t exist, just that its impact probably isn’t as great as it is often made out to be – kind of like clutch hitting or being a good presence in the clubhouse.

As for Laird, I don’t even know that he’s that great at it. People say he is because he is good overall defensively and can’t hit worth a lick. But how often did Verlander get rattled and fastball happy and go from no hit stuff to a 4 run inning? Shouldn’t staff handling and game calling help mitigate that for someone with Verlander’s stuff? What happened to Galarraga this year? The Tigers staff had a great year in 2006 with Pudge behind the plate and he’s widely regarded as an awful handler of pitchers.

On the other hand, I’ve spoken with pitchers who feel having a good relationship and a level of trust with their catchers is very important so I don’t know what to make of it.

By: Ypsi

Ypsi — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:19:29 +0000

gone but NOT forgotten

By: Kathy

Kathy — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:52:50 +0000

Bob Gibson pitching against the Tigers used to be a day of dread in my family. He was really something.

By: Coleman

Coleman — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:09:12 +0000

You might be surprised–I think I may have seen an opinion or two change here. Besides there are more positions besides the contrary ones. I find it hard to form an opinion at all on the subject, unless you would call “I guess I’ll just go with what the players and coaches seem to think” an opinion…

By: colin

colin — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:45:28 +0000

I didn’t mean to come off so negative earlier. However, I certainly hope that evidence supplied by contrary positions could cause both myself and others to change their minds!

By: Coach Jim

Coach Jim — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:19:19 +0000

There are many things a catcher can do, or not do, that affects the pitcher’s performace. One thing I teach my catchers is that they need to have their mitt as a target when the pitcher reaches his balance point (when the front knee is at its highest point, before the forward motion) Late in the year, I noticed Miguel Olivo for KC was terrible at this. He kept his mitt pretty much on the ground during the pitcher’s wind up, only bringing it into the strike zone to catch the ball. On the other hand, Joe Mauer gives a target and leaves it. Maybe this affects some pitchers, maybe not. There is no stat for “strikes thrown when the target is presented by the balance point.” Furthermore, this style could affect Pitcher A negatively, but Pitcher B positively.

In any event, trying to prove split-hair differences in catching with stats is a futile endeavor. Nobody is going to change their minds because of “evidence” supplied by a contrary position. The best we can hope to accomplish here is to state our opinions, along with our reasoning, and marvel and the diversity.

By: Vince in MN

Vince in MN — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:47:43 +0000

No way the Twins go for Bradley – they hate trouble makers as much as, if not more than, DD.

As for The Ham Sandwich, I am convinced most Minneapolitans are organic only vegans, so that is out also.

By: Coleman

Coleman — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:33:02 +0000

Bob Gibson will wish he had been Rick Porcello.

Seriously though, the Mr X remark about trading a Ham Sandwich for Milton Bradley gave me a good idea of a possible landing spot for the Belligerent Board Game. SF is desperate for an OF, and this is a team that managed to deal with The Bonds. Yeah, I know, MB is no BB. Still…

(BTW The Ham Sandwich IS available…if only we could get the Twins to take a bite…)

By: stephen

stephen — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 22:43:18 +0000

Mr. X, I missed you. Porcello’s ERA will be two runs lower? Excellent! Then he will be the best American League starting pitcher of the modern age.