The Sad Misuse of Brian Fuentes
by danmerqury on Jun 28, 2011 7:00 AM PDT
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PrintMuch like any reliever who throws from a low arm angle, Brian Fuentes has a rather large platoon split. He's much, much better against lefties than he is against righties. So can anybody figure out why Oakland has been misusing him since day one? See for yourself.
Click to enlarge.
There's a lot of information here, but the part that sticks out the most, which simply blows me away, is that Brian Fuentes has pitched to a larger proportion of right-handed batters than any other reliever on the team. How in the world does that make any sense whatsoever?
I'm going to break down the graphic in parts.
- Each chart in the graphic corresponds to every reliever that Oakland has used this year with at least 20 innings pitched.
- Every half-circle is split in two, so that the area of each of the two pieces corresponds to the relative amounts of righties and lefties faced. You can guess which side is which.
- The color of each circle section corresponds to the 2011 FIP against batters of that particular handedness. The scale is on the bottom right. I set league average (3.84) at pure white, with green corresponding to a FIP better than average, red worse than average. The intensity of the color becomes greater the further away you get from average, in both directions.
This blows me away so much, that I have to say it again. Brian Fuentes has pitched to a larger proportion of right-handed batters than any other reliever on the team. He's terrible against righties. His FIP against right-handed batters is an abysmal 4.27, well below replacement level. The reason why he's a valuable asset is his performance against lefties, which is a fantastic 2.24.
Fuentes' role is even more baffling when you look at his teammate Brad Ziegler. He's an equal opposite—Fuentes is a sidearming lefty with huge platoon splits, and Ziegler is a submarining right-handed pitcher with huge platoon splits in the other direction. Brad is fantastic against righties and terrible against lefties. And to their credit, Oakland has gotten it right with Brad. Only 32% of his opposition this year is left-handed, and when you consider that around 30% of baseball is left-handed in addition to the roughly 15% that can switch-hit (that bats left-handed against a RHP like Ziegler), the average right-handed pitcher should face around 45% lefties. Brad Ziegler has only faced 32% lefties, which is exactly what a manager should do with a pitcher with such enormous platoon splits like Ziegler.
So why, oh why, has Fuentes faced even more righties than Brad Ziegler? Fuentes is the opposite of Brad. He should face more left-handed batters than any other pitcher on the team, not the least. And while I understand that it's not possible for Fuentes to only face 32% opposite-handed batters like with Ziegler (due to there being around 55% RH vs. 30% LH batters in the league), 70% opposite-handed batters is just embarrassing. Brian Fuentes hasn't suddenly gotten worse, and he not worthless. He's just been misused.
Notes
- Obviously, the handedness of a pitcher's opposition isn't entirely under his team's control, due to pinch hitters and such. But it doesn't seem to matter that much to Ziegler.
- New manager Bob Melvin's arrival coincided with Andrew Bailey's return to the closer role, after Fuentes picked up an astounding seven losses and two blown saves in two months of work. (Yes, I know losses and saves aren't the greatest measure of talent. But come on, seven losses?) Fuentes has been more appropriately used since leaving the closer role, but not by as much as necessary. He's faced 40% lefties since then, which is around the same as fellow LHP Craig Breslow, who has a relatively neutral platoon split.
- I'll never understand how a pitcher with that strong of a platoon split has been a closer for basically his entire career. Say what you will about the merits of having a designated "closer", but the notion gets rather silly when using a pitcher with such a huge split. Pitchers with heavy splits should be the ones deployed with matchups in mind, not blindly thrown out when it's "his inning".
- Update: This may (sadly) hold some answers. Fuentes' OPS against RHB? .681. Fuentes' OPS against LHB? .681. Most of that is from a BABIP against lefties that is .361. So not only has he been used incorrectly, but he's been incredibly unlucky against lefties so far this year. Note to Bob Melvin: This does NOT mean he has a neutral platoon split.
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Sweet, thanks Dan
This is what happens when you assign pitchers to innings instead of using players where they have the greatest opportunity for success. Oakland expects Fuentes to predominately be lights out against anyone regardless of which side of the plate they hit from. Your data shows how out of touch that thought process really is.
"-i never said half the things i said." --Yogi Berra
That is absurd
Although it is nice to see that his use has been at least defensible since Bailey’s return and his performance against lefties has been plenty useful.
Nice charts too! Lots of info jumps right out.
"Juuuuust a bit outside" - Harry Doyle
by ArunisArun on Jun 28, 2011 7:36 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
Yep.
At one point in my life I liked Dave Kingman more than Rickey Henderson. I was stupid.
by the_rozeboom on Jun 28, 2011 8:13 AM PDT up reply actions
Good Article
Yeah, I think it’s crazy how many right-handed hitters that Fuentes faces, particularly under Bob Geren.
What is strange is that lefties are batting about 50 points better than righties against Fuentes.
Hello Bob!
I hope Bob got a great orientation to the A’s. Not the players, the fans who put out a wealth of knowledge on this site and others.
I hope Baseballgirl or someone can slip a print out to him at the next presser.
It's just more exciting with Billy Beane running the team.
AN doesn't have media passes/media access...
"If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn't bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented." —Stephen King
Does any AN front page writer or moderator have media access?
I vibrated with joy that join A's. -- Kim Seong-min
by WaddellCanseco on Jun 28, 2011 10:16 AM PDT up reply actions
Blez has a different kind of access.
Sweet is the lore which Nature brings; / Our meddling intellect
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:— / We murder to dissect.
Eeww.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Great stuff.
The answer to this question is simple. With Bailey out, Fuentes was anointed the “closer,” for no other reason than he had “closing experience.” Grant Balfour would have been a FAR better choice to close in Bailey’s absence, to any idiot that didn’t place undue value on “closing experience.” It’s arguably the main reason why the A’s aren’t hovering around .500 and right in the thick of the AL West race.
"PECOTA can pretty much kiss my ass."-Nico
by jeepers on Jun 28, 2011 8:22 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
It gets fierce competition
From the A’s horrific defense, which has cost a good number of games.
by OaklandSi on Jun 28, 2011 8:29 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
True
though that has to be chalked up to just plain weirdness, it’s not like the A’s deliberately built a team with disregard to defense. I suppose an argument can be made that it is folly to build a team around something as difficult to measure as defense, but that’s not an argument I could make very well.
"PECOTA can pretty much kiss my ass."-Nico
Maybe they did a crappy job evaluating defensive talent.
Sweet is the lore which Nature brings; / Our meddling intellect
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:— / We murder to dissect.
Really?
Kouz and Barton have both been above average defensive players in the past, yet they both fell off a cliff this year (Kouz especially). Those two account for 17 of the team’s errors. Now we have Sizemore playing out of position, and Weeks being a rookie at a fairly demanding position, leading to another six errors combined.
That’s 23 errors that have nothing to do with “a crappy job evaluating talent”. The only player who that label might be fairly affixed to would be Pennington, although quite a few (maybe most) of his nine errors have been pretty tough plays. Maybe he just needs to recognize the plays he can’t/shouldn’t make. The pitchers have also committed a lot of errors, which I don’t know what to attribute to.
by andyinfremont on Jun 29, 2011 12:48 AM PDT up reply actions
This is the answer
They named him closer and other teams knew his splits, so they loaded lefties against him in the 9th. I’d guess that he saw a disproportionate number of pinch hitters in capacity as closer. It was always a horrible choice. I’m kind of disappointed that New Bob continues to use him as an “inning” pitcher, rather than saving him for the key spot where the opponent has a couple of top lefties stacked in their lineup. He really needs to be a (highly paid) LOOGY. Period.
If we look at save situations for him we can see about the PH thing
1 vs. TOR: no PH
2 vs. MIN: no PH
3 vs. MIN: no PH
4 vs. CHW: no PH
5 vs. CHW: no PH
6 vs. DET: Wells® PH for Kelly (L) in 9th, struck out. Peralta PH for Rhymes in 10th, was IBB after Avila was picked off but went to 3rd on a throwing error by Fuentes
7 vs. SEA: Rodriguez (S, so R) PH for Saunders (L) in 8th, struck out
8 vs. LAA: Izturis (S, so R) PH for Amarista (L) in 9th, reached on E5, PR Trumbo later scored on a 2B
9 vs. TEX: Napoli® PH for Borbon (L), grounded out
10 vs. KCR: no PH
11 vs. KCR: Aviles® PH for Maier (L) in 9th, struck out
12 vs. BAL: no PH
13 vs. BAL: Adams® PH for Pie (L), fouled out
14 vs. BOS: no PH
15 vs. SFG: no PH
I believe those were all of his save ops so far, and this doesn’t track the other appearances in non-save situations. It’s clear some teams did find situations where they tried to get a right-handed hitter up there, probably based on the Fuentes splits, but the only times it worked in these cases were as a result of errors. There may be more of a trend with this in the non-save situations (such as some end-of-game ones where the A’s were tied), but I didn’t check those.
What’s interesting is looking past the FIP figures, his splits this year break down to the exact same OPS against LHB or RHB (.681). However, a couple other bits to that:
vs. RHB: 107 PA, .241 AVG, 13 BB (5 IBB), 17 SO, .268 BABIP
vs. LHB: 48 PA, .295 AVG, 1 BB, 8 SO, .361 BABIP
The OBP & SLG are nearly identical, leading to the balanced OPS.
But, succeeding in save situations hasn’t been a big problem for Fuentes. It’s that he’s pitched horribly outside those situations.
Last of the Ninth - Photography
Ah, nice!
Apparently putting an R in parenthesis makes it a registered trademark symbol! You get the point, though.
Last of the Ninth - Photography
Kind of like all those lineups in which Suzuki is copyrighted.
Sweet is the lore which Nature brings; / Our meddling intellect
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:— / We murder to dissect.
Thanks for pulling this
Some very counter-intuitive data. But let’s hope the A’s front office uses this trade his ass.
Here are the 14 PHs he's faced this year (13 RHB, 1 LHB)
Cr# Date Tm Opp Batter Score Inn
1 2011-04-02 OAK SEA Miguel Olivo tied 2-2 1B t9
2 2011-04-15 OAK DET Casper Wells tied 1-1 SO t9
3 2011-04-15 OAK DET Jhonny Peralta tied 1-1 IBB t10
4 2011-04-24 OAK SEA Luis Rodriguez ahead 3-2 SO b8
5 2011-04-27 OAK LAA Maicer Izturis ahead 1-0 RoE b9
6 2011-04-29 OAK TEX Mike Napoli ahead 3-0 Out t9
7 2011-05-02 OAK TEX Mike Napoli tied 4-4 Out t9
8 2011-05-08 OAK KCR Mike Aviles ahead 5-2 SO b9
9 2011-05-18 OAK MIN Delmon Young tied 3-3 1B t10
10 2011-05-22 OAK SFG Darren Ford tied 4-4 1B b11
11 2011-05-29 OAK BAL Ryan Adams ahead 6-4 Out t9
12 2011-06-04 OAK BOS Mike Cameron tied 7-7 Out b10
13 2011-06-21 OAK NYM Willie Harris ahead 7-3 HBP b8
14 2011-06-24 OAK PHI Ben Francisco tied 0-0 1B b9
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com:
And the Francisco one of course stands out
But since it wasn’t a save situation I wasn’t checking for that.
Last of the Ninth - Photography
BTW, loading lefties against him in the 9th would run counter to what the points being made are
Last of the Ninth - Photography
(Though, based on the poor luck he's had against lefties this year based on BABIP, it might have been better to leave those LHB in)
Last of the Ninth - Photography
It doesn't work that way.
If it’s bad luck then we wouldn’t expect it to continue. He’s been much better vs. lefties his entire career and we expect that going forward.
Cardenas!!!! WoooooooooooooHOOOOOOOOO
Totally agree about Balfour
Always thought he should have been the closer with Bailey out. These charts confirm that. Although looks like Breslow could have been a nice option as well. Would still take Balfour though since you would expect to see a few more righties than lefties.
It's because he was the closer.
What’s surprising to me is that Beane let it happen. I thought he was the innovative “stats” guy.
Besides possibly screwing the A’s out of a win or 2 – or maybe even more, it also damages his trade value if the A’s decide to sell.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Yeah this is surprising to me too
this is the type of info I would expect Beane’s FO to have not someone on a sports blog, btw, great write-up and analysis Dan.
But it’s not only us (the A’s) who are misusing him; he’s been a “closer” nearly his entire career. So perhaps this is a sign that Beane isn’t coaching the team like it has been suggested by many in the media. Also, I think the sabermetrics/ statistical analysis that’s used in Beane’s FO is mainly to acquire players, and not used for in-game decision making like playing Fuentes vs lefties only.
Besides, I see Melvin as an old school type manager. I don’t see him receptive to an office rat giving him baseball knowledge as described here.
by sf drift king on Jun 28, 2011 10:21 AM PDT up reply actions
Beane stopped managing the team when Geren was hired.
That’s a big part of the reason Geren did so much worse than his predecessors. The complaints about it at the time notwithstanding, Beane was actually really good at managing from upstairs. But then he stopped.
Sweet is the lore which Nature brings; / Our meddling intellect
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:— / We murder to dissect.
by iglew on Jun 28, 2011 10:48 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
This makes me so angry!
And, when he was put in the tie game for his 8th loss, I thought that was just so unfair to him. How many times does he have to show what he is and is not up for, before the manager(s) start to understand?
Thanks for the amazing, insightful chart and analysis!
"Of course, vignette17 and nevermoor in the lead. Someone check their keyboards for ’roids ;-)" - cuppingmaster
Thanks for the kind words, guys.
I just noticed something this morning, and I put another bullet point at the end there. His OPS against LHB and RHB is identical. Wow.
Doesn't this mean that although he's been unlucky against lefties, the "misuse" of Fuentes
isn’t the reason that he’s been unsuccessful in 2011? It’s just that he hasn’t been very good.
I vibrated with joy that join A's. -- Kim Seong-min
by WaddellCanseco on Jun 28, 2011 9:44 AM PDT up reply actions
Yeah, in a way.
But this is more about process than results, considering his huge career platoon split mark.
Right, there's still time to fix it
I vibrated with joy that join A's. -- Kim Seong-min
by WaddellCanseco on Jun 28, 2011 10:12 AM PDT up reply actions
Best process fix: Don't sign Fuentes in the first place!
"I heard the reason Geren never played Powell was so he could have someone around to fetch him a cushion."- UrgentMirth
by Gaijin_Suketto on Jun 28, 2011 10:26 AM PDT up reply actions
For his career his FIP splits are:
L/R 2.70/4.10 so it’s not just a sample size thing this year.
He’s also been unlucky with a 3.74 FIP this year against a 4.76 ERA. Last year his FIP was 3.85 and his ERA was 2.81. Lucky that year.
At the time of the signing I thought it was shrewd to get a LH “closer” to do left handed setup duties in the 8th inning. The 8th is very high leverage and more often than not the top of the order is batting making that inning more important than the 9th in many games.
But then they totally blew it by making him the closer. It should have been Grant. Left handed closers are sort of an anomaly anyway and a pitcher with such a pronounced split should never do the job. In fact, if you are going to have a dedicated to a certain inning pitcher you want as low a split as possible. For example, Bailey has a full repertoire of pitches so that reduces his split.
Cardenas!!!! WoooooooooooooHOOOOOOOOO
Wow... great stuff, Dan
I’m starting to understand the graphs more and more.
"If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn't bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented." —Stephen King
But he's using pink and red way too much
Dan is a much more consistent infographer when he sticks to green and gold.
"If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn't bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented." —Stephen King
This is true
"If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn't bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented." —Stephen King
I don't think it's quite right to say that Fuentes is terrible against RHB
Here are Fuentes’ stats against RHB over the years. sOPS+ is his his OPS+ against, relative to other LHP vs. RHB:
Year PA BA OBP SLG sOPS+ 2001 19 .235 .263 .647 126 2002 68 .155 .250 .224 30 2003 201 .227 .328 .378 81 2004 132 .300 .394 .482 127 2005 238 .236 .346 .412 96 2006 210 .217 .317 .367 75 2007 191 .207 .298 .331 59 2008 203 .211 .290 .306 55 2009 164 .261 .358 .428 104 2010 141 .202 .293 .403 86 2011 107 .241 .337 .345 86 Total 1674 .227 .323 .377
So he’s generally been much better than the average LHP against RHB, and this year is no exception (though those 5 IBBs are hurting his FIP and his OBP-against). One could argue that his nice line against RHB this year is due to getting lucky on BABIP, but that’s been the case throughout his career.
Career BABIP
vs. LHB: .306
vs. RHB: .274
He allows more FBs against RHB, and a higher percentage of them are infield flies. Throughout his career, Fuentes has been able to beat his FIP and xFIP by having a low HR/FB rate (which is especially impressive for someone who pitched 40% of his career in Coors) and a high IFFB rate.
He should obviously be used more effectively with such a deep bullpen, but he’s not merely a LOOGY. It’s not too hard to understand why he was used as a closer—he had a 3.14 ERA (148 ERA+) from 2005-2010.
by Danny on Jun 28, 2011 10:12 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Fuentes may be less bad against righties than other lefties are, but isn't the relevant measure
whether he’s better or worse against righties than the other options the team has? Fuentes’s 5.13 xFIP this year is worse than Ziegler, Wuertz, Balfour, Bailey and Devine. I’m finding it hard to buy that any sort of BABIP skill specifically against RHP overwhelms the pretty big difference in xFIP. And the story is similar before 2011 as well.
I vibrated with joy that join A's. -- Kim Seong-min
by WaddellCanseco on Jun 28, 2011 10:31 AM PDT up reply actions
Definitely, he should be used far more effectively than Geren used him
I was just disputing the claim that he’s terrible against RHB.
Though I don’t think he can be used too much more effectively than NewBob has been using him, as a 50% platoon rate is about as good as it gets for LH relievers.
Even NewBob has used Fuentes against righties in higher leverage situations than I'd like though
Since Melvin took over on June 9, Fuentes has faced 23 RHB, including switch hitters, with an average Leverage Index of 1.55. Worse than that, if you don’t count the White Sox series, where all his appearances were in low leverage situations, his average LI is 1.94. He faced 9 hitters with a LI over 2, and 3 times with a LI over 3. Melvin is putting in Fuentes too often with the game on the line against RHB for my tastes.
I vibrated with joy that join A's. -- Kim Seong-min
by WaddellCanseco on Jun 28, 2011 11:30 AM PDT up reply actions
Melvin still remembers mid-2000's Fuentes too fondly.
"I heard the reason Geren never played Powell was so he could have someone around to fetch him a cushion."- UrgentMirth
by Gaijin_Suketto on Jun 28, 2011 11:54 AM PDT up reply actions
although...
jackson is actually hitting okay for newbob.
by heartstopper on Jun 28, 2011 5:59 PM PDT up reply actions
Ya, that myth needs to die
"Some of us know him as the a-hole who piled into Ray Fosse in an All-Star game (it's why Ray is the way he is folks)" - OptimistPrime
One thing I'd add, though, is that
Fuentes was decent against RHs with a fastball that was 92-93 and now that he’s throwing 89-90 I would expect him to continue success against LHs (using his breaking pitches) more than against RHs. He was far less miscast as a closer in COL than he is as a “one inning guy” today.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Right. He's worse now and needs to be more limited in his usage.
I vibrated with joy that join A's. -- Kim Seong-min
by WaddellCanseco on Jun 28, 2011 1:48 PM PDT up reply actions
Interesting. The data would be a lot more useful if he was split vs LH relief pitchers only. Not sure it exists that way.
That said, though: he’s had 6 seasons where his sOPS+ against was significantly better than average, if we consider average to be within 10 points of 100, plus one season of 68 batters faced with a ridiculously low sOPS+.
He’s only had one season with a significantly high sOPS+ against, plus one season of 19 batters faced, again with a high number, and two average seasons.
"Feel so bad, feel like a ballgame on a rainy day"-Lightnin' Hopkins
by justANotherAsFan on Jun 28, 2011 12:27 PM PDT up reply actions
You mean other than the BABIP difference?
He’s always been more of a FB pitcher vs righties — 46.8% vs 41.4% vs lefties for his career, and more of a IFFB pitcher vs righties — 13.7% vs 11.4%.
That’s even more pronounced in 2011 — 53.5% FB vs righties vs 40.0% vs lefties and 21.1% IFFB vs righties and 7.1% vs lefties.
The A’s -11 UZR by infielders can’t be helpful to his BABIP vs lefties either, although by itself doesn’t explain the .351 BABIP vs lefties number
I vibrated with joy that join A's. -- Kim Seong-min
by WaddellCanseco on Jun 29, 2011 10:09 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Boobs
You only get to bend over so many times in life. Don't waste your bend overs.
by Dirty Pam on Jun 28, 2011 10:24 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
save that for the lounge, lady!
"I heard the reason Geren never played Powell was so he could have someone around to fetch him a cushion."- UrgentMirth
by Gaijin_Suketto on Jun 28, 2011 10:29 AM PDT up reply actions
Oh Puhleeease
Well boo hoo for a guy we are paying like he is this great closer that he can’t get out right handed batters. When you closing, you really don’t get to choose. Your job is to go out there and blow away anyone who you are facing, which is likely to be either be one of the team’s studs, or a pinch hitter who is nearly as good. The fact that “Twenties” (losses) can’t get anyone out means he is utterly useless. Yea, maybe you are right, maybe his role should be relegated to “you go out and face one lefty then you get pulled” type of role. But why would you pay the millions we are paying “Twenties” for THAT?
Always easier to plame the player for not being able to do his job, right?
What, you think he isn’t trying to do the best he can?
Or, is it you think he doesn’t care, because he’s making so much money? Obviously, he cares, or he never would have ripped Geren.
"Feel so bad, feel like a ballgame on a rainy day"-Lightnin' Hopkins
by justANotherAsFan on Jun 28, 2011 12:09 PM PDT up reply actions
blame or flame, not plame
"Feel so bad, feel like a ballgame on a rainy day"-Lightnin' Hopkins
by justANotherAsFan on Jun 28, 2011 12:09 PM PDT up reply actions
Cares or not cares
I don’t have an opinion about whether he cares or doesn’t. I suppose he does, but that’s beside the point. The point is, we made a costly offseason aquisition to get him because he was supposidly a closer, and guy we could bring in and blow away three batters and then go home. Instead what we got is a guy that gets absolutely shelled by right handed batters, and now the discussion is whether we should only be pitching him against lefties. My point is that if that really is all he has left, he shouldn’t be on the roster. We could get a pitcher like that for a fraction of what we are paying him. He’s useless.
what's amazing to me is that we think of ziegler as being totally dominant vs right handed batters. fuentes is more dominant against left handed batters than ziegler is versus right handed batters. that's really saying something.
excellent work dan. rec’d as always
the artist formerly known as inbillywetrust
Terrific Stuff
Terrific eye-opening read, danmercury! Thanks for the insight.
Psychological weirdness?
Is it possible to look at the splits ONLY when Fuentes has been used as a closer? I suspect that in that capacity he’s not so bad. It seems that when he comes in as a set-up guy or in a tie game situation he’s significantly worse. But obviously the numbers may not bear that out.
Yes, it actually is
At least, in terms of save situations vs. not.
2011: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=fuentbr01&year=2011&t=p#outco::none
Career: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=fuentbr01&year=2011&t=p#outco::none
This season’s splits are far apart from what his career figures have been.
Last of the Ninth - Photography
So, bottom line for the lazy or numerically challenged: Career, very little difference in sOPS+
However, for this year, significantly better in save situations than his career average against, and significantly worse than his career average against in non-save situations.
"Feel so bad, feel like a ballgame on a rainy day"-Lightnin' Hopkins
by justANotherAsFan on Jun 28, 2011 12:32 PM PDT up reply actions
Which is bad news for him as a non-closer
But like others have noted, there’s probably little more to it than a big case of bad luck.
Last of the Ninth - Photography
I should say that's actually tOPS+ for the career, which measures how well he did against his own average.
Which is reflected in the nearly identical OPS against, but does not say how he did against the average reliever for his career.
"Feel so bad, feel like a ballgame on a rainy day"-Lightnin' Hopkins
by justANotherAsFan on Jun 28, 2011 12:34 PM PDT up reply actions
So, even more bottom line: Career, decent. This year: mediocre.
I vibrated with joy that join A's. -- Kim Seong-min
by WaddellCanseco on Jun 28, 2011 12:35 PM PDT up reply actions
Which is what matters most as far as we're concerned
Since it affects the A’s.
Last of the Ninth - Photography
It's not so much misuse
As the fact that he’s been the closer for a portion of the season( for better or worse).
by dashman33 on Jun 28, 2011 12:57 PM PDT via mobile reply actions
Mostly worse
I vibrated with joy that join A's. -- Kim Seong-min
by WaddellCanseco on Jun 28, 2011 1:05 PM PDT up reply actions
Finally, a millenium!
Very nice graphical presentation, Dan!
2011 Oakland Athletics: We have Cy Young pitchers and make yours look like it, too
I totally understand and agree with everything you said.
If you'll excuse me, all of you, I'm going to go tearily spill my heart out to my only friend, the water heater. --danmerqury
Stop cutting and pasting this on every thread, you!
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
FINE!
I respect you and I totally understand and agree with everything you said.
If you'll excuse me, all of you, I'm going to go tearily spill my heart out to my only friend, the water heater. --danmerqury
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Sweet is the lore which Nature brings; / Our meddling intellect
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:— / We murder to dissect.
I have been a dedicated subscriber since 1954
If you'll excuse me, all of you, I'm going to go tearily spill my heart out to my only friend, the water heater. --danmerqury
lol, sis. thanks for the laugh.
and thanks for this, danbot, even though i don’t understand most of it.
Lady Jesa
It says Fuentes should start in rotation slots #2 and #4
At least that’s what I got out of it.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
For Texas.
and LAAAAAAAAAAA
Official Athletics Nation Rotating Tagline Editor - Pam liked my old sig better.
My thoughtful watermelon is easily mistook for an early American catapult.
by mikev on Jun 28, 2011 3:51 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions
and the Giants on the weekends
If you'll excuse me, all of you, I'm going to go tearily spill my heart out to my only friend, the water heater. --danmerqury
OT - Soggy day in Oakland
Seems like a good chance there will be some delays tonight.
Great work on the analysis, Dan!
Brian "Twenties" Fuentes asked to throw BP to A's hitters
After a couple months of opposing hitters hitting the cover off the ball when Brian “Twenties” Fuentes pitches, the A’s skipper has decided to have Twenties take over batting practice duties.
“Our hitters have clearly gone throw a rough spell, having faced pitchers like Doc Halladay and many have lost their confidence” said the A’s skipper. “We think that having them hit off of Twenties will restore that confidence. His batting-practice-speed-fastball doesn’t have any movement, so it is perfect for helping to restore their confidence.”
Brian “Twenties” Fuentes is on a pace to be the first closer in history to lose 20 games in a season. He was unavailable for comment.
He'll pick up the pace
One or two more losses and he’ll be right back on track. He can do it!!! I have faith in him.
If he loses twice tonight, he's on pace!
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
....
Every half-circle is split in two, so that the area of each of the two pieces corresponds to the relative amounts of righties and lefties faced. You can guess which side is which
This guy needs help with that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx7a3leZJJI
"You know whats funny? I always thought uhm dogs lay eggs and I learned something new today" Peter Griffin
On the way to the doctor for Hunter's three-year checkup,
there was a kid running ahead of us and his dad, who was behind us. His dad twice told him to “turn left!” but in actuality, the turn was to the right.
by LoneStranger on Jun 29, 2011 9:08 AM PDT up reply actions
that would have been Godfrey's spot correct?
"You know whats funny? I always thought uhm dogs lay eggs and I learned something new today" Peter Griffin
by HUNGRY HUNTER on Jun 28, 2011 4:36 PM PDT up reply actions
Might've been due in the Florida series
They shuffled things around a little with the offday.
Last of the Ninth - Photography
He IS the long relief
Should we have a starter ready?
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Interesting and informative. Thanks, Dan.
You're remarkable in a funny way. Or funny in a remarkable way.
Also, with Sacramento's game tonight already postponed due to weather...
…McCarthy’s starting in Stockton tomorrow night.
Last of the Ninth - Photography
Can you post the data please?
E.g., in a .csv file? I’d like to take a look. And, can you always post your data? I know it’s not common practice among baseball-data folk, but I wish it were.
I usually do, on request.
But here, everything was just lifted from Fangraphs. Like here. Just used batters faced and FIP, split by handedness. The only real calculations I did were just for calculating the color by the scale, but if you want that, I can give it to you, sure.
Anything on tonight's game? Delays? Anything?
Leaving in a few minutes to pick people up.
WELCOME BACK
RICH HARDEN! Starting Friday!
My mannerism a prism/ And it should shine
Light it if you would/ Be so kind, right now'd
Be A' Good Time
by DaRubiesSLOKingsA's on Jun 28, 2011 5:21 PM PDT reply actions
whops, already covered by Flashfire above!
I just couldn’t resist my excitement!
My mannerism a prism/ And it should shine
Light it if you would/ Be so kind, right now'd
Be A' Good Time
by DaRubiesSLOKingsA's on Jun 28, 2011 5:22 PM PDT up reply actions
lets hope you are just as excited
after the start….
by heartstopper on Jun 28, 2011 6:01 PM PDT up reply actions
IT'S BEEN FUN
RICH HARDEN! Sorry it didn’t last longer!
by LoneStranger on Jun 29, 2011 9:09 AM PDT up reply actions
Tonights Lineup
SADLY, no CHRIS CARTER!
1.) Weeks 2B
2.) Penny SS
3.) CoCo CF
4.) Matsui DH
5.) CoJax 1B
6.) Sweeney LF
7.) Suzuki C
8.) DeJesus RF
9.) Sizemore 3B
My mannerism a prism/ And it should shine
Light it if you would/ Be so kind, right now'd
Be A' Good Time
by DaRubiesSLOKingsA's on Jun 28, 2011 5:28 PM PDT reply actions
newbob is waiting to start him vs
lefties. that is suppose to be saturday if someone elses calculations are correct
by heartstopper on Jun 28, 2011 6:03 PM PDT up reply actions
LOL at our best hitter batting 9th
Zooks…..is disappoint
by Pop N' Locktapus on Jun 28, 2011 5:36 PM PDT up reply actions
while we're waiting
Here’s a video of the Mariners winning on an intentional walk/wild pitch.
Acording to SuSlu, Harden starting Friday for the A's...
At this moment, Cahill is the probable pitcher. Would he pitch on Saturday, Harden on Friday and tomorrow’s last start for Godfrey?
Why does Godfrey have to start another game!? I hope he isn't starting tomorrow as it is listed
Couldn’t we have worked this a little better with that off day – Have Gio go today, Moscoso tomorrow, Cahill on Thursday, and then Harden/Outman?!
I’m praying this is the case…
My mannerism a prism/ And it should shine
Light it if you would/ Be so kind, right now'd
Be A' Good Time
by DaRubiesSLOKingsA's on Jun 28, 2011 6:16 PM PDT up reply actions
oh okay good
I must have misread.
My mannerism a prism/ And it should shine
Light it if you would/ Be so kind, right now'd
Be A' Good Time
by DaRubiesSLOKingsA's on Jun 28, 2011 6:43 PM PDT up reply actions
What do you guys think the chances are that you trade Fuentes before the deadline?
The Cardinals need a lefty in the pen in the worst way. We tried to sign Fuentes in the past. The Cardinals and the A’s have had multiple trades in the past years.
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