Baseball is Here!! MLB 2012!!!!

[rah]

No pity here. The Cubs 4th best hitter is probably still in AAA

[Imran Siddiqui]

Oh, don't worry. All you need is for Vogelsong or Cain to blow up, or preferably both. And if Verlander can blow up, I'm sure either or both can

The other issue that the Tigers need to figure out is offense without a DH (esp since the NL has home field advantage). Zito and Bumgarner were great were the Tigers couldn't get much on the relievers either.

[Imran Siddiqui]

...in the 3-4 spots. With nearly ****-all elsewhere, apart from AJax.

The Tigers lineup is a ****ing wasteland other than those three. Our fourth best hitter is Delmon Young. DELMON YOUNG. You think about that. You just go ahead and sit there and think about that.

How you feel now, smart guy? Not too good, right?

Avila and Peralta just returned to the mean; there was no way on God's green earth they were going to repeat last year's performance. Andy Dirks might be the real deal, we'll see in another year. And even if he is: that would still give us just four above average hitters; maybe five if Avisail pans out.

That's... pretty ridiculous. Cabrera and Fielder were very very good, but Austin Jackson and Andy Dirks had OPS+ of 130... that's 30% better than the average hitter. FOUR batters with a 130 or over OPS+ is ridiculously good. I mean that was better than Pablo Sandoval's year.

[Guynemer]

I'm... not sure what you're saying here. Are we agreeing?

As I said, Cabrera and Fielder and AJax are just dandy. Dirks had a career year (limited by injuries as it was); hopefully, it is a sign of things to come.

Beyond them, the lineup was a ****ing goddamned train wreck. Three and a half good hitters does not a Murder's Row make.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I'm not sure what you are expecting here. You have 4 other hitters who are slightly below average and a catcher who is hitting exactly at average (which for a catcher makes him valuable). The 4 star hitters were good enough to lead the Tigers to an OPS+ of 104... which was 3rd in the American League. I mean this is a top tier offense.

[Guynemer]

I mean this is a top tier offense.

Not sure if serious.

726 runs = 6th in AL.

[snoopy369]

Exactly. A lineup that is without the stars is close to average (I mean, sure, you're not getting a ton out of Peralta, but neither are the White Sox or the Yankees or anyone else at SS right now; Avila is fine at C; and your outfield is not that bad really, particularly as you can platoon for some additional advantage. Then you add in three of the best hitters in baseball. And the 104 OPS+ was with significant time spent on the DL from Jackson and Dirks...

[snoopy369]

Not sure if serious.

726 runs = 6th in AL.

Sure, but playing in a park that doesn't exactly invite massive run scoring offenses (though you do get 19 games per year at the Cell with our pitchers playing soft-toss, but still ) and facing better pitching than the average AL West or East team.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Sure, but playing in a park that doesn't exactly invite massive run scoring offenses (though you do get 19 games per year at the Cell with our pitchers playing soft-toss, but still ) and facing better pitching than the average AL West or East team.

Why I used OPS+. Comerica does have quite large dimensions.

[Guynemer]

My understanding is that Comerica is actually a (mild) relative plus to offense; sure, maybe fewer HR to center and right, but the big outfield leaves open lots of room for doubles and triples.

There is no one to drive home Ajax/Miggy/Prince, is my point. You can talk about OPS and elite offense all you want, but offense is supposed to SCORE RUNS, and the Tigers did not do that any better than an average team. That is not an elite offense, because the players surrounding the big three are a big zilch. My god, just look at the horror show that was the second base position all season long, even after Infante returned; to say nothing of Boesch, the aforementioned mega-regressions of Peralta and Avila... Now, if Martinez hadn't been injured the whole season, I might concede your point. That would be another major hitter, and then we'd be talking.

[snoopy369]

Is OPS+ adjusted for the presence/absence of the DH? IE, is 100 average for AL specifically, and for NL 100 is also average, or is 100 average for all leagues combined, but AL teams are higher generally?

[snoopy369]

My understanding is that Comerica is actually a (mild) relative plus to offense; sure, maybe fewer HR to center and right, but the big outfield leaves open lots of room for doubles and triples.

There is no one to drive home Ajax/Miggy/Prince, is my point. You can talk about OPS and elite offense all you want, but offense is supposed to SCORE RUNS, and the Tigers did not do that any better than an average team. That is not an elite offense, because the players surrounding the big three are a big zilch. My god, just look at the horror show that was the second base position all season long, even after Infante returned; to say nothing of Boesch, the aforementioned mega-regressions of Peralta and Avila... Now, if Martinez hadn't been injured the whole season, I might concede your point. That would be another major hitter, and then we'd be talking.

Umm, they do tend to drive themselves home. 100 or so home runs between the three of them? The 3-4-5 hitters' jobs are to hit other people in, not to be hit in themselves.

Comerica is around average, I guess. Park factor wise (per ESPN), the last two years it was #9, the year before that #17; however, both 2012 and 2011 the major factor bringing it up was the 3B, which is pretty close to random (not enough of them for really significant statistics).

[Imran Siddiqui]

Is OPS+ adjusted for the presence/absence of the DH? IE, is 100 average for AL specifically, and for NL 100 is also average, or is 100 average for all leagues combined, but AL teams are higher generally?

It's accounts for the majors as a while. 100 was actually the average for the AL, but 94 was the average for NL this year.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Interestingly, if you look at the majors as a whole - the Tigers are 5th in MLB in OPS+.

Though the Giants are tied for 3rd in OPS+. However, that was including 2/3rd of a season with Melky Cabrera, who is obviously not on the postseason roster, who was unquestionably their 2nd best hitter (acquiring Scutaro helped with the loss, but not all the way).

[snoopy369]

Um, Hunter Pence isn't exactly small potatoes either.