Team results vs RHP in 2010

by tharr on Feb 7, 2011 11:23 PM CST

The Cubs had remarkable split differentials against RHP (.689) and LHP (.805). Those numbers rank 13th and 1st in the NL. That helps explain our dysfunctional results last year versus right handed starters and relievers. Surprisingly our LHB (.677) were even worse than our RHB (.695).

If we look at last year’s results, there were only a few RHB that did very poorly. Here are their sOPS+ numbers.

Nady 87

Theriot 83

Barney 50

Baker -12

Our under performing LHB included:

DeWitt 79

Hill 40

And while the addition of Pena will add a LHB (.881 career vs LHP), he will be replacing Lee whose (.762 last year vs LHP).

If we are to compete, we must improve our performance against RHP this year. When you add to our problems by having us face a right handed setup man or closer, it partly explains our poor results in later innings. The gap between scoring 4.28 RPG and surrendering 4.80 must be addressed by improving our production in 2011 against the RHP.

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Regarding the numbers you posted...

…. I doubt you’ll see Baker much against RHP this year. It’s clear he can’t hit them.

Nady and Theriot are gone. Obviously, the team hopes Pena will return to his 2008-2009 level of performance. Also, the bullpen improvement should help in the number of runs given up.

This will be an improved team. How much so, remains to be seen.

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by Al Yellon on Feb 8, 2011 8:37 AM CST reply actions

Yup.

Baker and DeWitt platoon should work out just fine for the Cubs this season.

"A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality." John Lennon
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"They played like son of a guns......lord have mercy." Mike Quade

by Cubbiegoon on Feb 8, 2011 11:09 AM CST up reply actions

Baker

As horrendous as he was last year against RHP, he doesn’t have a consistently bad record against RHP – 2009 & 2008 were ok, 2007 bad. 2010 though was off the charts awful.

OBP/SLG/OPS
2010 .181/.121/.302
2009 .350/.412/.762
2008 .315/.407/.722
2007 .267/.289/.556

by John916 on Feb 8, 2011 1:05 PM CST up reply actions

The Nady signing was a terrible waste of money.

I suppose you could say that he would have done better with more playing time, but Hendry shouldn’t have shelled out $3.3 million for a guy who didn’t have a shot at getting playing time.

by elgato on Feb 8, 2011 9:18 AM CST reply actions

You're right.

They’d have been a lot better off signing Jonny Gomes — less money, better production, not to mention it would have made the Reds worse.

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by Al Yellon on Feb 8, 2011 9:35 AM CST up reply actions

Is this your official

mea culpa on this move?

by Damen Jackson on Feb 8, 2011 9:37 AM CST up reply actions

Yeah.

I hoped Nady would be OK. Obviously, he wasn’t.

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by Al Yellon on Feb 8, 2011 9:44 AM CST up reply actions

I can accept that...

Let’s hope for better moves (and results) this season.

by Damen Jackson on Feb 8, 2011 9:46 AM CST up reply actions

Agreed.

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by Al Yellon on Feb 8, 2011 11:58 AM CST up reply actions

What a sore subject...

I like him as a player, but signing him so soon after his Tommy John was highly questionable. Couldn’t play enough to help keep the team in the mix in the first half, and then collected a bunch of meaningless at-bats when things had already gone bad.

by Damen Jackson on Feb 8, 2011 9:36 AM CST up reply actions

I think Hendry signed him for three reasons ...

to platoon with Kosuke (less important given Colvin’s emergence), to back up Lee (making the fact that Lee played terribly through a thumb injury more annoying) and as insurance in case Soriano continued to decline after 2009. The last one makes the signing a LITTLE more defensible, but Soriano was just good enough to stay in the lineup.

All told, I could give Hendry a pass on this one if he hadn’t given Nady so much money. It made sense to have a righty bat who could play the outfield corners and first given where the Cubs were a year ago. Nady fit that bill.

But $3.3 million (for a guy coming off surgery) was almost Aaron Miles bad — especially when guys like Jonny Gomes signed for less. Maybe the situation could have improved if Lou had used Nady in better ways (in hindsight, sitting Lee more in April would have been a smart move), but Lou admitted not being 100 percent last year on “Talkin’ Baseball” on Saturday.

What a mess last season was.

by elgato on Feb 8, 2011 9:50 AM CST up reply actions

We'll always, always have the man scoring from 1B on a walkoff bunt in Milwaukee to remember him by.

You don’t see a play like that very often. And because of that play, we’ll never forget Nady’s time as a Cub.

MLBMilestone.com - following the numbers to Cooperstown

by D98 on Feb 8, 2011 12:08 PM CST up reply actions

I had hoped

for more bang for the 3.3M bucks.

If a quality pitching start is 3 runs and 6 innings, then a quality hitting day is 1 for 4.

by tharr on Feb 8, 2011 12:14 PM CST up reply actions

Strangely, I have no memory of that play.

by elgato on Feb 8, 2011 12:29 PM CST up reply actions

Yeah, I don't either...

by kanderber on Feb 8, 2011 12:43 PM CST up reply actions

I barely do

I trust he meant the play where Gomez would come around to score on a number of bad plays from the Cubs.

by Damen Jackson on Feb 8, 2011 1:15 PM CST up reply actions

This game is the one he’s talking about.

This is the PBP from the inning in question:

BREWERS 10TH: GOMEZ BATTED FOR AXFORD; Gomez walked; Counsell out on a sacrifice bunt (third to first) [Gomez scored (error by Nady) (unearned) (no RBI)]; 1 R (0 ER), 0 H, 1 E, 0 LOB. Cubs 4, Brewers 5.

ISTR a bad play by Hill on that, too.

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by Al Yellon on Feb 8, 2011 1:28 PM CST up reply actions

There were a few

that inning.

by Damen Jackson on Feb 8, 2011 1:34 PM CST up reply actions

Oh, yeah.

I assumed the game was after Lou quit — that’s why it wasn’t ringing any immediate bells.

by elgato on Feb 8, 2011 1:48 PM CST up reply actions

It was a pretty high throw. I'm just impressed Hill remembered to cover 3B.

Howry started the inning with 6 consecutive balls. 4 to Gomez, and 2 to Counsell.

Gomez takes off with the 7th pitch and gets a gigantic jump. Counsell puts down a bunt to the 3B side, fielded by a charging 3B who throws to Nady at 1B for the out.

This leaves 3B wide open, so Koyie Hill is jogging to 3B to cover.

But Gomez never stops, and by the time Nady decides to throw across the diamond to 3B, he’s practically already starting his slide.

The ball and Koyie arrive a couple of beats after Gomez, but Nady’s throw is hilariously high and off the mark and winds up in LF over by the tarp. Soriano puts it in his pocket as Gomez scores easily.

It also helped that no one was covering home at this point, although that could just be reasonable apathy – even if Howry had covered the plate, they weren’t going to catch Gomez.

A better question, in a tie game in extras – why did the 3B completely fail to look at Gomez as he rounded 2B? That was the winning run.

Also, why would a 1B who could not throw well due to TJ surgery try to chuck the ball all the way across the diamond to attempt to catch a very speedy player who was practically already at third?

After the game, Koyie noted that it was a confluence of factors that allowed the play to happen – “a great runner in Gomez, a great bunter in Counsell, and the worst defensive team in MLB on the field.”

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100610&content_id=11033018&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

MLBMilestone.com - following the numbers to Cooperstown

by D98 on Feb 8, 2011 2:34 PM CST up reply actions

Good discussion.. Rec'd Don't forget career numbers on OPS as well..

individual year OPS’s can be misleading, especially for the longer term guys, or they can be a sign of decline. Byrd, Baker, Soriano, Aram, and Lee all significantly underperformed vs career OPS vs RHP in 2010, but if you look at recent years for each I think it’s was injury or slump-related and not age-decline related.

The other thing is that we face RHP 3-4 times as often as LHP, so that is why leading MLB vs LHP didn’t help us much. I still feel like a consistent bullpen is the most important area we can improve to become competitive (our starting pitching is very good despite claims to the contrary). However, there’s at least a little synergy to baseball – so giving late-inning support can improve our relievers just as much as good late-inning pitching can take pressure off of the hitters.

by DisCUBbobulated on Feb 8, 2011 1:44 PM CST reply actions

The only notable LH closer

is Billy Wagner. In fact, he has 37 of the 76 total saves by lefties in the NL last year. There were 636 saves last year and 41 were against the Cubs. Since we were 0-75 when trailing after 8 innings it seems we must try to improve the bench because we’ll be facing almost nothing but RHP in the 8th and 9th in 2011.

If a quality pitching start is 3 runs and 6 innings, then a quality hitting day is 1 for 4.

by tharr on Feb 8, 2011 3:05 PM CST up reply actions