Tuesday, May 19, 2009

And Then We All Bought Yachts


I don't have much to offer beyond directing you to Jordan Bastian's excellent piece on the defensive wizardry of the Manmountain yesterday. A brief sampling of the fine yeoman's work:
The fans inside the stadium, after being hushed in awe for a few seconds, began cheering loudly and the crowd moved to its feet. Rolen, the old-school player that he is, stood stone-faced and moved back into position for the next batter. He wasn't about to let the reaction inside the Dome break his concentration.
According to the ever-impressive Yankees Replacement Level blog, Rolen's already saved four runs with his glove this year; equal to the 17 run pace (based on 162 games) set by Evan "Universal Slurpjob" Longoria. The RLYWeblog's list features fountain-of-youth Scutaro firmly at the top and silk glove winner Lyle Overbay right alongside Rolen with 17 runs saved over a 162 season. It was my slightly held belief that the Jays defense was slipping slightly this season, but the numbers don't support it. As a unit they rank 7th in UZR and third in defensive efficiency. That the Jays even rank that high in UZR is slightly shocking considering how much the system hates Vernon Wells, though it gives his arm positive marks thus far. Either way, the defense will continue to support the burgeoning pitching staff in delightful ways.

I can't give any shout outs to Scott Rolen without a nod to his apparent nemesis Jeff Blair for his fine job subbing for Bob McCowan on Prime Time Sports yesterday.

On the Sox


They kinda suck. Well they're not playing great baseball. Mostly because of Rocco's struggles. Oh how he's struggled. Some awful numbers including 5.4% walk rate, 37.1% K rate (!!!!) for a BB/K rate of 0.15. Ugh. It adds up to an unsightly .529 OPS. Poor Rocco. You'll come around next week sir. Offensively Jason Bay has carried the Yookless Sox. Defensively he's worse than Manny. Dustin Pedroia is playing well but frankly, he can fuck right off. I'm going to say what every Jays fan knows: Aaron Hill + Green Monster = 50 doubles a year. Aaron Hill's quick swing is BUILT for that ballpark, unfortunately for him and his agent he only plays there as a visitor. Get your necktie Dustin, I'm sure they'll make them in size 6x.

5 comments:

  1. That play by Rolen yesterday was just UNREAL. What a hero.

    Aaron Hill > Dustin Pedroia.

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  2. Jordan Bastian Sucks!!! Booooooooooooo!!!

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  3. Really? What makes you think that? I think he does a good job, especially in pieces like the Scott Rolen post when he can get beyond the normal MLB.com restrictions. Kids gotta eat, do your dirt MLBastian.

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  4. Sami says Bastien is a top-5 beat writer, and he's edited thema all.

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  5. He should go by bastian buger!!

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