Harry Pavlidis: Two Sides of Cubs Rule 5 Coin

This is written by Harry Pavlidis at The Hardball Times.

almost 3 years ago memphiscub 12 comments 0 recs |

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I love this kind of analysis

Boggles my mind, but I love it anyway

Jackie likes the smell of cut grass, he used to play ball on Saturdays, Playin in the sun...

by PacificCub on Apr 15, 2009 1:48 PM CDT reply actions

how can I deboggle?

Really, I know that I don’t always reach the audience they way I’d like to. Fire away, I have a very thick skin.

by Harry Pavlidis on Apr 15, 2009 7:56 PM CDT up reply actions

btw, love the .sig, I'm now singing to myself

by Harry Pavlidis on Apr 15, 2009 7:56 PM CDT up reply actions

It takes a little while to get used to seeing "stuff" in graph form

and having it mean something too you

St. Louis Cardinals... defying win expectancy since 2008

by vivaelpujols on Apr 15, 2009 10:37 PM CDT up reply actions

Exactly.

It’s not immediately clear what everything means. For instance, I assume:

CH = changeup?
CU = curveball?
F4 = fastball?

And I assume the box in the middle of the graph represents the strike zone?

Just making sure I’m reading this correctly.

I've committed to tweeting about the Cubs for the rest of the season. (Does that sound as ridiculous as I think it does?) Anyway, if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

by daver on Apr 16, 2009 10:32 AM CDT up reply actions

Nice, I managed to not put in a key

That’s a brain fart. My bad.

But, you’ve got it. F4 is four-seam fastball, others are F2 for two-seam (AKA sinker), FC for cutter, FS for splitter. If you hit my author page over there, there’s an article on Gameday 2009 that gives some more definitions of pitch types.

The box is a reference zone. The top/bottom are fairly typical for an average sized player, and the width is two feet – wider than the 17 inch plate, wider than the 21 inch plate that umpires are graded on, but about the same as the actual plate as hitters and umpires see it in game action.

by Harry Pavlidis on Apr 16, 2009 3:06 PM CDT up reply actions

Gotcha - that helps. Thanks!

I've committed to tweeting about the Cubs for the rest of the season. (Does that sound as ridiculous as I think it does?) Anyway, if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

by daver on Apr 16, 2009 5:12 PM CDT up reply actions

Don't get me wrong

I actually understand it very well, especially with your descriptors. I guess what boggles my mind is how these data are so intricately measured and the glory of the instant internet feedback.

It’s great work, and I enjoy the depth of the analysis with not only the raw data, but what that typically means for each player’s style, handedness, and workload.

Jackie likes the smell of cut grass, he used to play ball on Saturdays, Playin in the sun...

by PacificCub on Apr 16, 2009 1:38 PM CDT up reply actions

Yeah, cool analysis.

And nice to hear more positives re: Patton. He had a nice two-inning outing today.

I've committed to tweeting about the Cubs for the rest of the season. (Does that sound as ridiculous as I think it does?) Anyway, if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

by daver on Apr 15, 2009 4:35 PM CDT reply actions

Question.

Can anyone remember another Rule 5 guy who actually stuck with the Cubs all year? I can’t.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Apr 15, 2009 6:21 PM CDT reply actions

you got me there

Friendship is like peeing on yourself: everyone can see it, but only you get the warm feeling that it brings.

by Cubbie-Tim on Apr 15, 2009 7:19 PM CDT up reply actions

me too

BTW, I’ll have more on Patton later tonight (maybe tomorrow, we’ll see). I already poked around Harden’s outing today, and I’m not sure about the whole laying off the change-up theory both Brenly and Santo espoused.

MC, thanks for linking this, as I actually forgot to do so myself.

by Harry Pavlidis on Apr 15, 2009 7:55 PM CDT up reply actions