Run Differential is Getting Kinda Interesting

by jasonthea on Sep 15, 2009 9:33 PM PDT

Only minus 17 after tonight. And nearly +30 since AS break. Team has played 500 ball since then, and somewhat over .500 ball if you start from the low water mark just after the AS break (25-21).

Almost all of that time without their best player or any of the players acquired for him save Mortensen. So here's the theory. This offense is going to be-- at worst-- league average next year given the improvement shown in the past two months plus potential contributions from the likes of Wallace, Carter and Cardenas at various points in 2010. Some will argue the point but I'm gonna stake whatever my baseball acumen's worth on that, and we can allcheck it out a year from now. The bullpen should be better than most however it shakes out. What will ultimately determine whether this is a .500 type squad or something better is, of course, the starting pitching. And in a season when we got nothing from Duchscherer, lost Outman for most of the year, lost Braden for most of the 2nd half and had MAC pitch to mixed results, who knows what next year will bring. When Brett Tomko is your most dependable late season starter you don't really know what you've got the next season.

But a little luck on the injury front and some expected increase in maturity could-- underline the word could-- spell a significantly better rotation. If so, they could win 90 games next year. Easy.

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I'll board that train

But, just like many Athletics’ fans, are you really going to expect me to buy tickets to come and ride?

by LowcountryJoe on Sep 16, 2009 3:29 AM PDT reply actions

Who cares...

about the fucking run differential. I care about the win-loss differential. I know that you are going to claim that they are related, and they are, but run differential does not

by Keystone State on Sep 16, 2009 5:51 AM PDT reply actions

How do you win a game without a positive run differential?

"I'm not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did." -Yogi Berra

by brenarlo on Sep 16, 2009 7:01 AM PDT up reply actions

Intangibles

"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s

by Nick on Sep 16, 2009 7:09 AM PDT up reply actions

Grit!

Linda's in the cold ground, won't see her anymore
Somewhere out on the highway tonight, the drunken engines roar
It's just one of those things, one of those things
-- Al Stewart, "Accident on 3rd St."
In memory of Nick Adenhart and all victims of drunk driving

by PaulThomas on Sep 16, 2009 10:01 AM PDT up reply actions

Scrappiness.

by rageon on Sep 17, 2009 5:38 AM PDT up reply actions

gamer.

They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick

by mikev on Sep 17, 2009 8:48 AM PDT up reply actions

The post is about cumulative run differential...

over the course of the season. That figure is what I was talking about, not individual game run differential, dumb shit.

by Keystone State on Sep 17, 2009 9:22 AM PDT up reply actions

Thanks for commenting!

"We've come a long way, and I'm not talking about Virginia Slims, either." - Art Howe

by EastCoastA on Sep 17, 2009 1:08 PM PDT up reply actions

Please chill out on the insults

Last of the Ninth - Photography

by Flashfire on Sep 17, 2009 1:13 PM PDT up reply actions

does not what?

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones."
-BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Sep 16, 2009 7:40 AM PDT up reply actions

“correlate loosely with your win-loss record.”

Why, yes, you’re right! It correlates very strongly with your win-loss record (or at least your pythagorean runs scored/against does (r^2 = 0.83 for pythag and winning percentage, and run differential correlates pretty well to your pythag record).

by speckops on Sep 16, 2009 3:37 PM PDT up reply actions

I'd say Brett Anderson is more dependable than Brett Tomko

"if gio would of ptched,he would of pitched shoot outs." - MR.OAKLAND

"Anyone who calls themselves the Angels Angels should have to start over and ride the short bus." -timmeh from McCovey Chronicles

by Cheezombie on Sep 16, 2009 11:12 AM PDT reply actions

it's obvious

trade for Brett Myers and Brett Marshall and move Brett Wallace to P. then get Brett Favre, who keep walking batters to lose one game 165-1 so run differential won’t matter.

by vk on Sep 16, 2009 12:43 PM PDT reply actions

Brett for the WIN!!!

"if gio would of ptched,he would of pitched shoot outs." - MR.OAKLAND

"Anyone who calls themselves the Angels Angels should have to start over and ride the short bus." -timmeh from McCovey Chronicles

by Cheezombie on Sep 16, 2009 1:02 PM PDT up reply actions

How amazing of a rotation would that be?

Brett Anderson
Brett Myers
Brett Tomko
Brett Wallace
Brett Favre

In other news, Brett is a wholly ridiculous word to type five times in a row.

by danmerqury on Sep 16, 2009 2:19 PM PDT up reply actions

Brett Brett Brett Brett Brett.

lol that was pretty weird.

What you fail to understand in your joyless myopia is that baseball is the key to life-- the Rosetta Stone, if you will. If you just understood baseball better all your other questions your, your... the, uh... the aliens, the conspiracies they would all, in their way be answered by the baseball gods.

by winchester5 on Sep 17, 2009 9:26 AM PDT up reply actions