2011 Blue Jays Season Thread

[Trojan97]

Originally Posted by JayP

Anyone else getting annoyed with this excessive "threat of the steal" stuff? Everytime anything good offensively happens there's zero credit to the hitter and just a constant droning about how the pitcher was disrupted. I mean, when Riveria grounds weakly to third with Aaron Hill on second and there's a throwing error, how can you attribute any of that to the "threat of the steal"?

How we were a top 10 offense last year without the threat of the steal is beyond me. Especially when Davis and his "disruption" led the A's to a bottom 10 offense.

It annoys me more because there's no proof that speed or base stealing have any sort of affect on opposition pitching.

[JayP]

Originally Posted by flames_1987

And even thought it comes with limited knowledge compared to some of the elite baseball stats, but doesn't moneyball put an emphasis on defense really not mattering all that much?

Well, the term moneyball doesn't really mean much anymore, but at the time of the book advanced stats and sabermetrics didn't really put much value into defense. Now, as defensive stats are becoming better and better, it's a completely different story.

[JayP]

Originally Posted by Trojan97

It annoys me more because there's no proof that speed or base stealing have any sort of affect on opposition pitching.

There's actually some statistical proof that a base-stealer actually disrupts the hitter. One of the best advanced stats books out there "The Book - Playing the percentages in baseball" shows this pretty clearly. When there's a disruptive base-stealer on base, a hitter's numbers actually get worse than his typical numbers.

[Flickered Flame]

Originally Posted by flames_1987

And even thought it comes with limited knowledge compared to some of the elite baseball stats, but doesn't moneyball put an emphasis on defense really not mattering all that much?

The A's have really started to move away from the moneyball philosophy mainly because they don't have the bombers to play that way. Last year they were actually very aggressive on the base paths, not yet this year but I expect it will come although not having Davis and his 40 + stolen bases will hurt that.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by flames_1987

And dear god I know there's a Leafs game but 11 thousand fans?!?

I'd say to get used to it. Unless it is a big name opponent, weekday crowds are always going to be small.

Could be worse, the Indians drew 9853 and 8726 to their Saturday-Sunday games, then only 9025 last night for the Best Red Sox Team Ever!™

[Matty81]

Dallas Braden scratched from his start tonight. Tyson Ross called up to step in. ERA at 5.50 last season but a bit better WHIP at 1.50.

[ricoFlame]

Tuesday night game in early April is never going to be a huge draw. winning will bring more fans out, but they'll likely never sell out that type of game.

[habernac]

What's up with Bautista? Why 3 games off? Any inside news?

[flambers]

Originally Posted by habernac

What's up with Bautista? Why 3 games off? Any inside news?

Family issue is all the Jays have mentioned.

[JayP]

Originally Posted by habernac

What's up with Bautista? Why 3 games off? Any inside news?

He had a daughter born back home in the Dominican Republic.

[puckluck]

Jesus, Encarnacion with another botched catch. He is a major weak spot on defence.

[Hockey]

Adam Lind is off to a good start so far this season. Escobar is having a good game as well tonight.

[puckluck]

3 run homer for Snider. 4-2 Jays top 5th.

[Caged Great]

Nice HR Snider 4-2 Jays

[Machiavelli]

Snider has such power....good job.

Rivera on the other hand - wow, I'm already done with him.

[koop]

Originally Posted by JayP

Well, the term moneyball doesn't really mean much anymore, but at the time of the book advanced stats and sabermetrics didn't really put much value into defense. Now, as defensive stats are becoming better and better, it's a completely different story.

Moneyball was about finding value in the market for baseball players.... so it wasn't that defense wasn't important, just that it was overvalued (at the time at least). Same with OBP or closers, moneyball talked about both and it wasn't that the A's thought closers weren't important and OBP was all that mattered, it was just that closers were overvalued and OBP was undervalued. I think a lot of people misunderstand that book, it's really just about finding value to gain a competitive advantage, and that means just as much now as it ever did. It's just harder to do now that every team uses advanced statistics.

[puckluck]

Wow according to the stats both teams have no errors. Yeah, I call BS on that. Encarnacion dropped a pretty routine foul ball, and one of the Oakland outfielders lost a ball in the lights.

[puckluck]

Originally Posted by Machiavelli

Snider has such power....good job.

Rivera on the other hand - wow, I'm already done with him.

Rivera is very frustrating to watch. Seems like the Bouwmeester of the Bluejays. Doesn't seem like he cares or wants to be there.

[Gozer]

Originally Posted by puckluck

Rivera is very frustrating to watch. Seems like the Bouwmeester of the Bluejays. Doesn't seem like he cares or wants to be there.

Disliked by fans that rationalize impossible to refute flaws?

[Hockey]

Originally Posted by puckluck

Wow according to the stats both teams have no errors. Yeah, I call BS on that. Encarnacion dropped a pretty routine foul ball, and one of the Oakland outfielders lost a ball in the lights.

Are you talking about the foul ball in the 1st inning? Cuz E5 had to make a big break for the ball and was going full speed when the ball just popped out the end of his glove.


If you are talking about something else then I apologize.