Friday, August 06, 2004
JOSH PAUL: HERO, AND THE TEAM THAT PUT THE JUDY IN PUNCH-AND-JUDY
Everyone gets their day, and yesterday's was Josh Paul's: 3 for 4, 2 runs scored, an RBI, and the Lads' only extra-base hit of the game (a double). In just over 40 plate appearances, Paul is now hitting 306/381/417! That's the mother of all small sample sizes, but there you go ...
... What team leads the AL in batting average? Quick hint: what team is this blog about? That be the Anaheim Angels, with a major league leading .286. They are also tops in the majors in batting average with runners in scoring position at .290. Despite this, the Angels rank a mediocre seventh in the league in runs scored.
As you may know, the Angels rank a big fat last in walks, which means that their OBP is a mere .341, sixth the the league. Their .428 slugging perecentage is a disappointing eighth in the league, despite that high average. This is because we are tenth in extra bases, and eleventh in extra base hits and isolated power. Remember Bill James' Secondary Average, designed to measure all that stuff batting average doesn't account for (walks, extra bases, stolen bases)? We rank eleventh, in that, too.
All which is to say we have a pretty one-dimensional offense. Our power comes from only the outfield corners; for the most part, we have to rely on stringing hits together to score runs, as our singles-dominated victory over Minnesota yesterday bore out.
(I'll take this moment to point out that the fact that Angel Stadium has been a pitcher's park this year is a factor. We do manage to rank third in the league in runs scored on the road, and our OBP and SLG go up to third and fourth, respectively. That said, we still rank seventh in extra base hits on the road and eighth in extra bases and isolated power.)
Hopefully, Garret and Salmon will pick up the power sticks, and diversify our offense. As we know, the singles well can run dry, and it's necessary to have another way to score at your disposal.
Everyone gets their day, and yesterday's was Josh Paul's: 3 for 4, 2 runs scored, an RBI, and the Lads' only extra-base hit of the game (a double). In just over 40 plate appearances, Paul is now hitting 306/381/417! That's the mother of all small sample sizes, but there you go ...
... What team leads the AL in batting average? Quick hint: what team is this blog about? That be the Anaheim Angels, with a major league leading .286. They are also tops in the majors in batting average with runners in scoring position at .290. Despite this, the Angels rank a mediocre seventh in the league in runs scored.
As you may know, the Angels rank a big fat last in walks, which means that their OBP is a mere .341, sixth the the league. Their .428 slugging perecentage is a disappointing eighth in the league, despite that high average. This is because we are tenth in extra bases, and eleventh in extra base hits and isolated power. Remember Bill James' Secondary Average, designed to measure all that stuff batting average doesn't account for (walks, extra bases, stolen bases)? We rank eleventh, in that, too.
All which is to say we have a pretty one-dimensional offense. Our power comes from only the outfield corners; for the most part, we have to rely on stringing hits together to score runs, as our singles-dominated victory over Minnesota yesterday bore out.
(I'll take this moment to point out that the fact that Angel Stadium has been a pitcher's park this year is a factor. We do manage to rank third in the league in runs scored on the road, and our OBP and SLG go up to third and fourth, respectively. That said, we still rank seventh in extra base hits on the road and eighth in extra bases and isolated power.)
Hopefully, Garret and Salmon will pick up the power sticks, and diversify our offense. As we know, the singles well can run dry, and it's necessary to have another way to score at your disposal.
Comments:
Post a Comment
