OT: Pirates Talk: That Skenes guy is okay at teh baseball

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WickedWrister

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Jul 25, 2008
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1727037919996.png
 
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bigdaddyk88

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Apr 21, 2019
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Not that anyone watched this game over the Steelers game, but if this is Skenes' last start, he went out with a bang. 9 strikeouts and only 2 hits against in 5 innings, I'm guessing he was pulled so he can get another start.

Also Yorke had his first HR, I think he could be a really good hitter for them next year.
How did Nick look at ss
 

Empoleon8771

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I didn't watch the game so I can't comment, but I think the big worry I have with Gonzales at SS is that his arm is really weak. He does have good range though (at least at 2B), so I think he could be passable at SS. That being said, it's really not a good idea to plan on that being option A going into next year.

I think they're better off pushing Yorke to LF and keeping Gonzales at 2B, or perhaps go the opposite way. I don't think either Yorke or Gonzales have the arm to be effective SS or 3B in the long run.
 
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bigdaddyk88

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Ikf arm isn’t great for ss or range. The only way they put Nick or Yorke in Left is if Reynolds moves to 1st unless they want to rotate DH because they know Cutch isn’t going to play 120 games will be interesting going into the winter meetings
 

GilbertSeinfeld

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Mar 4, 2024
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Nothing matter unless there is, at least, new management.

I'd like to see Cherington gone, too, but, at the very least, Shelton and his band of flunkies need removed.
 

Empoleon8771

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Ikf arm isn’t great for ss or range. The only way they put Nick or Yorke in Left is if Reynolds moves to 1st unless they want to rotate DH because they know Cutch isn’t going to play 120 games will be interesting going into the winter meetings

Reynolds to 1B is absolutely something they should be doing.

McCutchen at DH, Reynolds at 1B, Yorke (or whoever wins the role, but I think Yorke's bat will let him win it) in LF and bring in a legitimate bat to play RF.
 

Sidney the Kidney

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Got a question for you baseball nerds. Does anyone still use HR, RBI, batting average, etc. to determine how good (or bad) players are nowadays?

Reason I ask is when I did follow baseball, all the talk was so and so is better because look at his RBIs or so and so is better because he hit .320 to the other guy's .265. It's what I grew up understanding and liking about baseball as a stats nerd. Looking at someone's baseball card and seeing his year-to-year HR totals and RBI totals and Runs totals. But now it seems the focus almost entirely is on these new numbers (WAR, OPS+, etc.).

Does anyone use those "old school" stats anymore?
 

Empoleon8771

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Aug 25, 2015
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Got a question for you baseball nerds. Does anyone still use HR, RBI, batting average, etc. to determine how good (or bad) players are nowadays?

Reason I ask is when I did follow baseball, all the talk was so and so is better because look at his RBIs or so and so is better because he hit .320 to the other guy's .265. It's what I grew up understanding and liking about baseball as a stats nerd. Looking at someone's baseball card and seeing his year-to-year HR totals and RBI totals and Runs totals. But now it seems the focus almost entirely is on these new numbers (WAR, OPS+, etc.).

Does anyone use those "old school" stats anymore?

Depends on how much of a nerd you are. I think the standard level of analysis uses OPS+, which is just on-base (batting average plus walks) plus slugging (how many bases you're getting when you get hits) as a function of league average (100 is league average). WRC+ is similar, but it includes a park adjusted factor.

I think some baseball analytics go a bit overboard with it though, because guys fill useful niches even if their OPS+ or WAR isn't necessarily special. For example, a guy who has an OBP of .350 with speed but zero power is a great leadoff hitter (such as Steven Kwan). A guy who is awful defensively but can hit 35 HRs a year and get a ton of RBIs is still a useful cleanup hitter (such as Nick Castellanos). WAR usually represents it pretty well but it can overrate or underrate niche players with specific roles that WAR either likes or doesn't like.

On the Pirates, I think Hayes is a terrific example of that, especially in his 2022 season. In that year, he only had a slash line of .244/.314/.345, which is a clearly below average hitter (88 OPS+). However, WAR absolutely loved his defense, to the point where he finished with 4.4 WAR in 136 games. That's insanely overrating him, he is simply not as good as his WAR suggests in that year. I think Triolo is another guy on the Pirates who WAR overrates due to his defense.
 
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Empoleon8771

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Aug 25, 2015
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Absolute joke franchise, but Tellez didn't really make his case any easier. Dude has a .116 batting average in September, really seems like he just checked out.

Call it an overreaction if you want, but this kind of stuff makes me believe more and more the "Nutting is going to move the team once the lease at PNC Park ends" thoughts that some people have.
 
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