Fun With Platoons!
by PaulThomas on Oct 23, 2007 2:21 PM PDT
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What if
What if Brown platooned with Jack Cust for the time being? He's got some pretty decent pop. Also, what about Corey Koskie? He's also got some pop and will be dirt cheap. Also, as much as I like OPS as a measuring statistic, I feel like it is weighted a little bit wrong. A perfect OBP is 1.000, but a perfect Slugging Percentage is 4.000. Rather than using OPS to judge them, is there another statistic out their that weights each differently? Anyway, awesome article, thanks for the read.
by maffew @ Athletics Nation on Oct 23, 2007 2:40 PM PDT reply actions
For major leaguers, yes
but I'm not aware of one for minor leaguers that's a. proven to be somewhat reliable, b. accessible without paying money, and c. understandable to a general audience. And of course, there's the problem of obtaining splits.
In any case, this is less of a rigorous statistical analysis (as if I knew how to do those-- heh) and more of a conversation-starter.
koskie
good thought, but the fact that he's taken a year and a half to get his vision and tracking corrected so far doesn't bode well for the rest of his career. that said, he is definitely a kind of player the a's would go for.
Substitute for Ellis?
AAARRrr -- draw ye sword. Poltroon! 
I think you pretty much covered the possibilities
Its interesting to think of the reasons why platoons aren't used more. I imagine that there is a human element involved in that players simply don't want to be platooned. The goal of any player is to be a regular everyday player and to take that away from them is basically like saying "you're not good enough". I know you can point to the stats and doing whatever is necessary to help the team win, but it could be the simple fact that players don't want to play for a manager who platoons them.
takes me back, sort of
to Charlie Finley's revolving door of second basemen in '72.
Basically, Finley was so displeased with his offensive output at second base, that he would pinch hit every time the second basemen was due up. In a 15 inning game, the A's employed a record six second basemen- and only two of them made it to the plate!
Ah, but in Game 4 of the ALCS, it backfired. Up 3-1 in the tenth inning and three outs from advancing to the Series, Gene Tenace (catcher/first basemen) found himself at second. With the bags full and no one out, a ground ball was hit to third baseman Sal Bando. Conceding the run, he threw towards second for what should have been a 6-4-3 DP, leaving the A's one out away, with a man on third. Instead Tenace bobbled the ball. Bags still loaded and still no one out. Two batters later it was over.
According to Ron Bergman's book, Mustache Gang, A's manager Dick Williams was in no mood to talk about the second base fiasco after the game. "All I know is they got three runs and I don't have one fucking out yet."
Thankfully, the A's prevailed in the deciding fifth game.
Would have loved to see AN's reaction to that play in Game 4. Holy Cow.
While this all works in a numbers world
The fact is that guys need regular work to get into grooves and hit as well as they can. So many lefties don;t hit lefties well because they do not see them enough and get platooned and then once they face them every day, they improve a lot. You can't get into a groove as a MLB hitter when you are sitting every other day or even every third day.
Having guys miss that many days would cause their good platoon stats to go down as they become rusty and never are allowed to get into any sort of rhythm at the plate.
I agree with this in a sense
but when you have a combination of veterans with a clear track record of not being able to hit one side (like Chavez), old guys who need days off anyway (like Kotsay) and rookies who are going to be spending a lot of their time on the bench in any event (like Hannahan and Murphy) along with a few fringe guys (like Blasi), it makes some sense, no?
I agree that if the A's are conceding next season, it's pointless, but I'm not ready to go down that path yet. If the Angels sign A-Rod, then maybe we can talk rebuilding.
Seems to me
Like a righty with some pop who can play a passable defense at 3B and 1B would be a good pickup to help Chavez and possibly Barton.
Well as long as you are very liberal
He definitely played significant time at 3B
this season, so he is indeed an option at 3B. The one major advantage I see him having vis a vis Rob Bowen is greater fielding versality. As far as I know Bowen's never played a day at third in his life.
I don't think there's really any need for a righty first baseman, because Swisher can fill that role if need be.
Dan Johnson
Does anyone know what the heck is wrong with Dan Johnson? I've been looking at his stats, and I can't find anything to cause him to have such a shitty batting average, and suck. He has good walks/k, and everything else seems to be normal. I'm just hoping he doesn't go David Ortiz on us if he gets traded.
by maffew @ Athletics Nation on Oct 24, 2007 11:01 AM PDT reply actions
Beats me
I think the problem lies in his hit chart. Take a look at it. He's much more pull-happy than David Ortiz, for instance. He's a dead pull hitter. As in, he pulls the ball, and then he's dead. With everything hit to the right side, and his glacial speed, it's basically impossible for him to get a hit on a ball fielded by an infielder-- and defensive shifting allows teams to field an abnormally high percentage of his ground balls.
Gotcha
So ok that helps some, cuz I was looking at his BABIP and it didn't make much sense to me, but I didn't look at his hit chart. Seems like a sensible theory.
by maffew @ Athletics Nation on Oct 24, 2007 4:16 PM PDT up reply actions
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