Armchair GM Time- What moves would you make to spark the offense?

[Olerud363]

 

So Arizona has 2 left handed hitting prospects that they won't give up... even for Moreno.

 

Let's turn to KC. Benentendi and 3 big huge left handed hitting prospects in their top 4. All with warts maybe like too many ks and stuff. Melendez dude can he catch?

 

I mean... I guess. Blah.. blah.. blah. Every team loves their own prospects. But is their no way to change a Groshans, or someone into the next Rowdy Tellez?

 

OK. Groshans is hopefully better then Tellez. Is there no way to turn Groshans into a 23 year old left handed hitter than can help now?

[Krusty]

I don't think its neccessary to burn everything down as it were. We have the bats, they just need to get their heads out of their asses and start hitting the way we know they can.

[Laika]

Laika talking about hitting philosophy after taking every at bat like this

 

 

Jokes on you, I've never even swung a bat

[Jonn]

lineup

1. R- Springer CF

2. R- Gurriek Jr LF

3. R- Vlad Jr. 1B

4. R-Hernandez RF

5. R- Bichette SS

6. L- Tapia DH

7. R- Espinal 2B

8. R- Jansen C

9. R- Chapman 3B

 

we need strong number 4

 

Its better to package Biggio and Pearson for strong DH

 

If they start DHing Tapia I will quit watching this Baseball team.

[Krylian]

If they start DHing Tapia I will quit watching this Baseball team.

 

Don't bet what you're not prepared to lose. This is Charlie we're talking about.

[Jonn]

Don't bet what you're not prepared to lose. This is Charlie we're talking about.

 

Sadly you’re right.

[Jimcanuck]

Jokes on you, I've never even swung a bat

 

wat?

 

Not qualified to be a mod then, IMO

[Deadpool]

If they start DHing Tapia I will quit watching this Baseball team.

 

When they DH him AND bat him 1st, or 4th, I imagine there will be a lot of justified criticism around here.

[gruber92]

lineup

1. R- Springer CF

2. R- Gurriek Jr LF

3. R- Vlad Jr. 1B

4. R-Hernandez RF

5. R- Bichette SS

6. L- Tapia DH

7. R- Espinal 2B

8. R- Jansen C

9. R- Chapman 3B

 

we need strong number 4

 

Its better to package Biggio and Pearson for strong DH

 

No Kirk again?

 

Tapia batting 6th again and ahead of Jansen.

 

Gurriel batting second?

[gruber92]

How can Chuckles justify batting Tapia batting ahead of Espinal, Jansen and Chapman. Tapia should be batting ninth if he has to play. This is beyond embarrassing.

[gruber92]

When they DH him AND bat him 1st, or 4th, I imagine there will be a lot of justified criticism around here.

 

Batting sixth and DHing is good enough a reason.

[Big BlueJay]

lineup

1. R- Springer CF

2. R- Gurriek Jr LF

3. R- Vlad Jr. 1B

4. R-Hernandez RF

5. R- Bichette SS

6. L- Tapia DH

7. R- Espinal 2B

8. R- Jansen C

9. R- Chapman 3B

 

 

Surprised he didn't throw Biggio out there again too, it's really amazing that Jansen has 6 HRs in 33 at bats and he continues to put him 8th in lieu of a guy who has 6 having played every game this season or a guy who has 2 in 79 at bats. Gurriel 2nd?? .221 with 2 HRs in 140 at bats, that would warrant being in the 9 hole for most teams

[Stangstag]

No Kirk again?

 

Tapia batting 6th again and ahead of Jansen.

 

Gurriel batting second?

 

This isn’t the lineup for today lol. Its his stupid lineup that he thinks is the most optimal

[gruber92]

This isn’t the lineup for today lol. Its his stupid lineup that he thinks is the most optimal

 

Oh ffs.. Thanks

[Deadpool]

This isn’t the lineup for today lol. Its his stupid lineup that he thinks is the most optimal

 

I picked up on that... But it was so plausible, and I hate it.

[Docsav]

A few relievers need to go!

[Spanky99]

MLB ranks:

 

K% - 14th (as in, 14th lowest)

BB% - 19th (as in, 19th lowest)

BABIP - 26th

Hard hit% - 5th

Oppo% - 10th

GB% - 11th

 

 

If the team was truly a bunch of "one dimensional hackers" who should be trying to "go the other way or up the middle instead of trying to pull the ball" more then the numbers would NOT look like this.

 

Seriously, do you f***ing dorks even look at Fangraphs before you type this stuff?

 

In fact, you could argue that the PROBLEM is that guys like Bo and Vladdy are NOT TRYING TO PULL THE f***ING BASEBALL ENOUGH

 

WHERE IS CITO GASTON

 

STOP TRYING TO BE PERFECT HITTERS WHO CAN AIM BALLS THE OTHER WAY INTO THE GAPS AND HIT .330!!!!!

 

JUST PULL THE BALL FOR HOME RUNS

 

YOU HAVE MASSIVE POWER AND MASSIVE BAT SPEED

 

LOOK AT WHAT DANNY JANSEN IS DOING

 

WHO ARE THE TWO BEST REGULAR HITTERS ON THE TEAM? GEORGE AND DANNY

 

WHO HAS THE HIGHEST PULL% OF REGULARS ON THE TEAM? GEORGE AND MOTHER f***ING DANNY

 

I SWEAR TO f***ING GOD I AM GOING TO SNAP AND BAN ALL OF YOU

 

DEAR MATT CHAPMAN - GET THE f*** OUT IN FRONT AND PULL YOUR FLY BALLS. STOP HITTING THEM TO CENTREFIELD YOU f***ING MORON

 

DEAR VLADIMIR GUERRERO JR, AND TEOSCAR HERNANDEZ, AND BO BICHETTE - START ELEVATING THE BALL MORE YOU f***ING IDIOTS

 

PULL DAT BALL... hahaha... this team has been on fire since Term made this thread. 14-4 record since.

[Laika]

PULL DAT BALL... hahaha... this team has been on fire since Term made this thread. 14-4 record since.

 

Since May 27th

 

wRC+ 163 (#1 in MLB)

Pull% 42.8 (#5 in MLB)

Oppo% 22.9% (#23 in MLB)

GB% 43.4 (#14 in MLB)

Hard hit% 36.7 (#3 in MLB)

babip .359 (#1 in MLB)

 

So they have been pulling the ball more, going oppo less, and hitting the ball on the ground a bit less.

 

They are hitting the ball even harder, relatively speaking.

 

HR/FB (16.7%) is 4th in MLB in that span whereas before it was 10th in MLB (11.7%).

 

Still hitting grounders too much IMO and probably getting a bit lucky during this stretch with BABIP.

 

Conclusions:

 

1. Pulling dat ball is working at turning some of the flyball outs into dingers

2. Keep mashing - try to murder the baseball almost all the time

3. The offense could be even better if we could get Vlad to stop hitting groundballs

 

Since May 27th the only hitters with groundball problems are Vlad (54.7%) and Springer (54%). I am not concerned about Springer there because that's way above his career mark and it's a small sample, but maybe he is a bit tired and cold use a few off days... Springer also has the highest pull% on the team since May 27th which might be why you haven't noticed the groundballs as a bad thing; he has been pulling hard grounders for hits and doubles often enough. You really notice groundball issues when guys are hitting into double plays up the middle like Vlad always does.

 

Kirk and his 248 wRC+ in that stretch has the lowest GB% on the team. He also has a good pull% since May 27th at 44.2% and four pulled homeruns.

It is safe to say that the difference between Kirk as a good hitter and Kirk as a great hitter is probably as simple as him figuring out when to get sluggy and pull a ball in the air with authority. I mean he can poke things up the middle and the other way in his sleep but that doesn't get chicks.

[wilko]

[Deadpool]

 

Cito was a great hitting coach, it's that whole "manager" thing where he sucked balls.

[wilko]

Hit dat ball pull dat ball

[Olerud363]

Cito was a great hitting coach, it's that whole "manager" thing where he sucked balls.

 

Hard to separate the two because as a manager he was still like a second hitting coach. He didn't get fired because of his in game decisions, but because of his sour relationship with some players and his inability to put together a top tier offensive team after 1993.

 

By 1997 he had a historically bad offensive team. In 2001 just bad, 2009/2010 mediocre.

 

And he certainly took credit if a hitter did good (Bautista for example), but would never take responsibility if they didn't meet expectations (Olerud 95, Wells 2009, Lind/Hill 2010).

 

I'm still a bit skeptical of 'pull dat ball' seems like a good way to make a .280 hitter into a .260 hitter. I guess we will see. Best offensive team I remember (93) had great pure hitters and other than Joe Carter did not 'pull dat ball'. Though I guess they probably did pull dat ball in 2015.

 

I just picture Vladdy and Bo hitting .250 fitty combined... with 85 homers, instead of .300 with 80 homers.

[Olerud363]

Hit dat ball pull dat ball

 

 

Cito Gaston - pull dat ball

Paul Beeston - pull dat ball and get a track team to break up the double plays

Devers/Martinez/Bogaerts - hit to all fields and hit .330 combined (will it last?)

[Laika]

Hard to separate the two because as a manager he was still like a second hitting coach. He didn't get fired because of his in game decisions, but because of his sour relationship with some players and his inability to put together a top tier offensive team after 1993.

 

By 1997 he had a historically bad offensive team. In 2001 just bad, 2009/2010 mediocre.

 

And he certainly took credit if a hitter did good (Bautista for example), but would never take responsibility if they didn't meet expectations (Olerud 95, Wells 2009, Lind/Hill 2010).

 

I'm still a bit skeptical of 'pull dat ball' seems like a good way to make a .280 hitter into a .260 hitter. I guess we will see. Best offensive team I remember (93) had great pure hitters and other than Joe Carter did not 'pull dat ball'. Though I guess they probably did pull dat ball in 2015.

 

I just picture Vladdy and Bo hitting .250 fitty combined... with 85 homers, instead of .300 with 80 homers.

 

Well it's not pull dat ball over all else

 

But if a player keeps hitting opposite field fly balls that are landing in gloves...

 

It's just way easier to turn raw power into home runs when you pull the ball

 

here is non-Blue Jays example of a player who needs to pull the ball more

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/andrew-vaughn/26197/stats#batted-ball

[Olerud363]

Well it's not pull dat ball over all else

 

But if a player keeps hitting opposite field fly balls that are landing in gloves...

 

It's just way easier to turn raw power into home runs when you pull the ball

 

here is non-Blue Jays example of a player who needs to pull the ball more

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/andrew-vaughn/26197/stats#batted-ball

 

Yeah that's pretty extreme. Jose Bautista pre 2010 was 35% pull rate, and 50% 2010 forward.

[Omar]

Well it's not pull dat ball over all else

 

But if a player keeps hitting opposite field fly balls that are landing in gloves...

 

It's just way easier to turn raw power into home runs when you pull the ball

 

here is non-Blue Jays example of a player who needs to pull the ball more

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/andrew-vaughn/26197/stats#batted-ball

 

Pulling the ball is not a cure all. In fact it can make a batter much worse. Ostensibly when you pull the ball you are hitting the ball further in front of the plate. This requires starting your swing earlier plus bat speed and less time to assess the incoming pitch. Also you can forget the inside pitch unless you're Vladdy. Being a natural pull hitter (Bautista) is the result of thousands of repetitions coupled with bat speed. These players aren't going to decide to pull the ball more. Some are just not capable.

[Laika]

Pulling the ball is not a cure all. In fact it can make a batter much worse. Ostensibly when you pull the ball you are hitting the ball further in front of the plate. This requires starting your swing earlier plus bat speed and less time to assess the incoming pitch. Also you can forget the inside pitch unless you're Vladdy. Being a natural pull hitter (Bautista) is the result of thousands of repetitions coupled with bat speed. These players aren't going to decide to pull the ball more. Some are just not capable.

 

Yeah of course

 

But lots of natural talent and bat speed on Toronto

 

There is no doubt in my mind that a few players could for sure pull the ball a bit more if they wanted

 

I mean data says they are already doing this last few weeks

[Laika]

Moreno is maybe another good example. One to watch over the years.

 

This could be a 10 HR player if he is a spray hitter trying to hit .350 all the time

 

or he could be a 25 HR hitter if he understands the value of pulling it in the air more often

[Olerud363]

Moreno is maybe another good example. One to watch over the years.

 

This could be a 10 HR player if he is a spray hitter trying to hit .350 all the time

 

or he could be a 25 HR hitter if he understands the value of pulling it in the air more often

 

If you are saying he is "trying" to hit .350, but hits really hits .280 with 10 homers he could hit .260 with 25 homers you might be right. But if he really could hit .350 or even .320 with 10 homers he's probably better off doing that.

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/2010.shtml

 

2010 Blue Jays. The greatest pull dat ball team of all time, kept the bases unclogged and the ball pulled, hit 257 homers and got outscored by a Minnesota team with 115 less homers and a Tampa team with 100 less homers. And Boston and NY outscored them by 100 with 50 less homerrs...

 

Maybe Cito and Murph just gave 'pull dat ball' a bad name, because they also wanted the guys to be real aggressive. Don't wait around. Don't clog the bases. Don't let the team on base percentage get much over .300. The Jose Bautista 'pull dat ball' with 100 walks approach is a different story.

[Laika]

If you are saying he is "trying" to hit .350, but hits really hits .280 with 10 homers he could hit .260 with 25 homers you might be right. But if he really could hit .350 or even .320 with 10 homers he's probably better off doing that.

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/2010.shtml

 

2010 Blue Jays. The greatest pull dat ball team of all time, kept the bases unclogged and the ball pulled, hit 257 homers and got outscored by a Minnesota team with 115 less homers and a Tampa team with 100 less homers. And Boston and NY outscored them by 100 with 50 less homerrs...

 

Maybe Cito and Murph just gave 'pull dat ball' a bad name, because they also wanted the guys to be real aggressive. Don't wait around. Don't clog the bases. Don't let the team on base percentage get much over .300. The Jose Bautista 'pull dat ball' with 100 walks approach is a different story.

 

Yeah I mean this

 

The Cito pull dat ball stuff is mostly a meme. I don't think anyone should take it that far.

 

But to put it more broadly... hitters should at the early stages of their career and perhaps in ruts go through "offensive approach design" phases in the offseasons to figure out the optimal approach FOR THEM based on their power, swing speed, swing mechanics, and talents. This is basically my point. Earlier this year I saw a lot of Blue Jays who were employing what I would call obviously sub-optimal offensive approaches.

 

 

 

 

This is one of the things that ruined Brett Lawrie's career by the way. He became obsessed early on with trying to hit line drives and groundballs up the middle. OOOOF!