Oops, and the Fate of Feliz

During my Brian Wilson rant yesterday, I failed to notice that he apparently went on the DL right after being brought up, which was why Jeremy Accardo was there to pitch in the 1st place. This was pointed out to me by someone going by the name of Nonny Muss.

Mr. A. Nonny Muss. Thanks.

My Royals-related euphoria (caused by them winning three of four games) met with a serious downer in the form of their 15th loss of the season.

Whenever I find myself getting too angry at the Giants, I can always compare them to the Royals and bask in the relief that both my favorite teams aren't as bad as Kansas City is.

Mad at Pedro Feliz, and wish he'd display some plate discipline? Heh. Check out Angel Berroa. He's hitting .296 and his on-base percentage is .306, thanks to the single walk he's drawn so far for 2006 in 72 plate appearances. He's seeing the fewest amount of pitches per plate appeance of his career at 3.24, not to mention he's pounding the ball into the ground at an almost 2 to 1 clip over fly balls (1.94 g/f ratio). In other words, even his seemingly-decent .296 batting average will eventually drop, because you need to be extremely lucky to high for that high of an average while hitting twice as many ground balls as fly balls.

But is Feliz even any better than this guy? Let's look at Feliz' same peripherals and see what they say:

• ISO Discipline (.032) - Well, did you expect this number to be good? This number is simply the difference between a player's batting average and his on-base percentage, and it basically tells us how well the players is drawing walks. Barry Bonds' ISO discipline is .297, so even when he's hitting for low batting average, he can help by getting on base. If Feliz ain't hitting for average, then he's just taking up space in the lineup.
• P/PA (3.18) - Can you believe that Feliz is actually seeing less pitches per plate appearance than Berroa? If it seems to you that Feliz is making a lot of one-pitch outs, you're likely right. What's worse is, Feliz is even being impatient for...himself. For his career, Feliz' p/pa is 3.36, so that gives you an idea of what's happening -- the guy is regressing. Each of the three previous years, that number had risen (3.28 to 3.36 to a career high last year of 3.43), and now it's dropped to an all-time low. Not good.
• G/F Ratio (1.27) - This isn't a bad number, per se, but for whatever it's worth it is at an all-time high for Feliz. He's best when he can hit line drives, but he hasn't been doing much of that this year -- it's either pounded into the ground or popped into the air, because pitchers almost always have him off-balance.

So, let's review. Feliz isn't hitting for average, he doesn't get on base, and he's not hitting for much power when he does get a hit, either, with an ISO power of just .122 (career ISO power is .182).

Why does this man lead the team in at-bats? It is a rhetorical question, truth be told -- he was given the 3rd base job totally and unconditionally, and there is no plan B behind him. Brian Sabean won't go to the minors for a replacement (not long term, at least), so that necissitates that some sort of trade be made. And, I dunno, I'm thinking there wouldn't be too many suitors for a 31 year-old 3rd baseman who has limited offensive abilities. Not at about $4 mil per year, at least.