Offense is at a premium this season and Rays manager Joe Maddon doesn’t think it will improve any time soon, writes MLB.com’s Bill Chastain. “The hitter’s at a total disadvantage right now,” Maddon said. “And there’s no advantages on the horizon. I don’t see it. That’s why it’s going to take a lot of creative thinking. It could be just going back maybe to something that had been done before. I’m not sure. But right now, offense is going south, and it’s going to continue going south based on pitching and defense. Everything, data, video, all the information benefits them over offense.” Maddon also pointed to improved bullpens throughout baseball as another factor in the depressed offensive numbers.
Here’s more from the American League:
- July acquisition Joakim Soria deserves a shot at pitching in high-pressure situations for the Tigers, writes Chris Iott of MLive.com. Soria could be the best relief pitcher the Tigers have and they paid a price to get him, so they should utilize him in the best way possible, Iott argues.
- The Indians led the majors in errors for much of the sesaon, but there likely won’t be sweeping changes in Cleveland’s infield, writes Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer.
- Nelson Cruz reiterated he would like to stay with the Orioles, but extension talks will still wait until after the season, tweets Rich Dubroff of CSNBaltimore.com.
- Tim Bogar is now the clear runaway favorite to be hired as the next Rangers manager, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (on Twitter).
Really interesting stuff in that Chastain/Maddon piece. Maddon’s clearly frustrated. But it’s true that most of the innovations that have come along in the past few years, really everything since the A’s, Yanks, Sox and a few others began focusing on on-base skills a while ago, has benefited pitching and defense. The balance is quite a ways off.
Why would Maddon be frustrated at something he helped usher in?
Because the new imbalance impairs his offense as well.
Brad Ausmus is really bad and that’s why you don’t hire managers with no prior experience. Soria just sits on the bench while Joba/Nathan almost blow important games.
There was a time when it felt like he was just throwing Nathan out there because Joe’s signed to a relatively high price contract. That if Nathan busted it would be reflective on how bad Dave Dombrowski is as GM for signing someone that old to a contract and expecting them to continue to perform at a high level, but after 4 months of Nathan looking horrible out there every night, you have to wonder what’s going through Brad Ausmus’s head? He can’t possibly know that he’s being setup to take a fall when this team doesn’t win a World Series this year does he?
Also, it’s not entirely Nathan’s fault. Detroit’s infield defense might be some of the worst I’ve ever seen.
You must be thinking of last years infield. They are 17th in errors per game and fourth best in double plays per game.
Errors, really? You have to get near the ball with some range for it to be called an error.
Do you know the amount of balls that Michael Young never got to that could’ve been called an error, neither has Derek Jeter.
I’ll give you Castellanos, but there is nothing wrong with the range of Kinsler, Romine or Cabrera, when he is healthy. Cabrera is really underrated at first. He has good footwork, a long reach and a rocket for an arm.
Fangraphs and Baseball Reference does not help support your argument.
“Detroit’s infield defense might be some of the worst I’ve ever seen”.
I think Fangraphs and Baseball Reference support my argument that they are not, quite nicely. Being second in double plays turned seals the deal.
I’d like to see the support for your argument.
Double Plays, really? Derek Jeter must be the best shortstop ever then! Honestly, you use no defensive metrics at all in your argument, look at their Rfield. Look how negative it is. Range>Arm. Detroit has posted a “fantastic” -60Rfield this year.
Double plays means nothing, stop thinking it does. If you have a strong arm and a weak baserunner going to first IE: Billy Butler (King of GIDP) you’re going to get a lot of double plays turned.
Since when is right field part of the infield defense? Again, you made the assertion their defense was one of the worst you’d ever seen, but provide no data to support that.
Look up Kinsler’s UZR.
Only Detroit sees slow runners? If you don’t appreciate double plays, there is no sense in discussing this further
So one player makes your team good defensively? Yes, absolutely. We all know the ball is going to find one fielder 27 times a game. Also, UZR needs 3 years of data to be represented correctly as the sample size is usually too small.
link to fangraphs.com
Soria has a lot to prove before he is given pressure innings. He has a 7.36 ERA and 2.045 WHIP since joining the Tigers. He was on the DL for a month and hasn’t pitched back to back games since his return. He has given up three hits and a run in three innings since coming back, hardly lights out.
I’m hoping the offense situation corrects itself soon. This is completely anecdotal, but it sure seems like there are a LOT more guys keeping starting jobs while hitting near or below the Mendoza line, even on good teams. It’s kind of irritating to see as a baseball fan. And all of the injuries to ace pitchers somewhat negates the excitement gained from pitchers having an advantage.
I wish more teams would bunt into these shifts, which even as a stats guy, have become ridiculous IMO. I don’t think they should be banished, but there needs to be some rules with regard to player positioning. I think it’s completely ridiculous that you can have your third baseman play to the left of a shortstop in an extreme LH shift (for example). What’s the point of having named/set positions if a manager can theoretically play a player in any alignment of his choosing?
What’s the point of having named/set positions if a manager can theoretically play a player in any alignment of his choosing?
It just helps move the conversation along. Baseball would be difficult to talk about if we always had to say, “that guy in the left corner.” But no sport takes positions “literally.”