The Giants see the fewest amount of pitches in the major leagues.
Ah, and there that is.
The Giants have the worst ISO SLG in the league, meaning they hit for the least power in the major leagues.
But here is a bit of hope.
The Giants are only 24th (out of 30) in walks per plate appearance (bb/pa).
What does all of that add up to? This, of course.
The Giants are 3rd to last in the league in runs.
Many like to blow stats off, and say they aren't important (*cough* Joe Morgan *cough*). But I'm a bit clueless as to how the stats listed above cannot tell a story about this year's team.
- They see the least amount of pitches per plate appearance, meaning they are the most impatient.
- They are worst in the league at hitting for power.
- They are among the league's worst in drawing walks.
What, did they run afoul of the Plate Discipline Nazi? No plate discipline for you!
When you don't see a lot of pitches in an at-bat, unless your name is Vladimir Guerrero or Ichiro Suzuki, chances are you are not getting your pitch in your zone to swing at. Most pitchers won't give in to a batter in four pitches. It means you're swinging at the first pitch you see in the zone, or, swinging at the first pitch you think is in the zone. This usually means you're not putting your best swing on the ball, because you haven't seen enough pitches from the pitcher to properly guage the velocity and movement of the pitches. Which means that even when you do make contact, it will not be solid contact.
Which means that even if you do get a hit, it won't be an extra-base hit.
At this point in the year, I'm sure it's in all the scouting reports that you don't have to pitch strikes to the Giants to get them out. Just pitch to a location off the plate with your fastballs, and pitch breaking stuff and changeups otherwise -- they'll get themselves out.
Ewwww.
It really is simple. The Giants draw among the fewest walks in the league because they are not patient at the plate. The Giants hit for the least amount of power in the league because they are not patient at the plate. The Giants are the 3rd worst team in the league in scoring because they are not patient at the plate.
And remember, Mike Matheny won't hit like this next year, and Randy Winn can't hit like this for an entire season, and Moises Alou, Ray Durham, and Omar Vizquel are all due regressions because of advancing age...
It looks decidedly Not-Good for next season.
3 comments:
You think someone would've told the Giants hitters that w/o Bonds in the lineup they all have to pick up the slack in the BB department. I think the main thing I will take from this wretched year , is it proves how amazing Bonds is and that he fully deserved everyone of his MVP awards. Come back soon, big guy!
Cy - you're welcome, and thank YOU for stopping by.
Aaron - good point, and not only in one way. Bonds would not only improve all those statistics listed all by himself, but his presence would cause an improvement in those statistics in the players hitting around him. Which is really why he's the best hitter of all-time -- because in an individual sport, baseball, Bonds actually does make the hitters around him better simply by being there.
ya Bonds is basically IS the power and patience of the Giants. He's the only one who hits homers and no one else can walk 200 times in a season or have an OBP over .600.
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