Comments on: Ben Zobrist’s WAR

By: JoeR43

JoeR43 — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:29:35 +0000

Reasons why playing the lottery isn’t always stupid

Occasionally crazy crap like this happens.

By: Matt B.

Matt B. — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:18:16 +0000

You beat me to it, wow… Vegas odds on this happening around 1,000,000 – 1??

By: JoeR43

JoeR43 — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:06:26 +0000

And it’s official.
Ben Zobrist, according to fangraphs’ WAR, is the best player in Major League Baseball in 2009.

I hope some writer gets a hold of this and tries a half-assed shot at “stat geeks” for it.

By: Joe R

Joe R — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:19:52 +0000

Guaranteed it would’ve been if he played in a bigger market / ESPN gave him some sort of attention / etc.

I really don’t understand people who always assume steroids, why would you bother watch a sport when you can get no joy from it? Blah blah everyone’s on roids, everyone sucks, blah blah, seems like a shitty way to watch.

By: Padman Jones

Padman Jones — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:12:14 +0000

He also had 303 PA before 2008 where he hit .200/.234/.275 with 3 HR. He had 23 HR in 1642 minor league PA, and never more than 7 in a season. His career minor league slugging % was .459. He did slug ~.500 in his last two seasons combined, but then he came up to the bigs and had horrendous seasons in ’06 and ’07…it looked like he just couldn’t translate the skills to the next level. That’s why it’s so surprising that he’s turned himself into a star hitter so quickly, and just a couple of years ago, people would probably be accusing him of steroid use.

What I’m trying to say is that it’s a good thing people aren’t jumping on that bandwagon. Personally, I’m willing to believe that he’s just a late bloomer (when he started to hit well in the minors, he’d just turned 26) and that working with that swing coach really did help him. I hope he keeps hitting like he is, because it’s fun watching guys perform like that.

By: Joe R

Joe R — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:46:15 +0000

FWIW, Mauer has a +3 FRAA

By: blibros

blibros — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:21:59 +0000

The offense is real – he always had excellent contact skills, and if you follow the minor league trends you can see the rapid progression of his power by watching the ratio of HR/2b. Only players with excellent power can attain a ratio of 1+, as he did in 08 as well as 09, plus in a small number of AB in AAA in 2008. Very unlikely that a player with only moderate power could do that two years running, especially playing full time against all types of pitching. Middle IF power peaks in their late 20′s, though may not last as long, but Z’s combination of excellent contact/OBA and power plus defensive versatility should make him a tremendously valuable asset for the next few years at the very least. You just can’t ignore the similarity to his 2008 numbers (when he was actually a bit unlucky).

By: Oshm

Oshm — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:06:52 +0000

@Padman Jones

In 2008 Zobrist hit 12 HRs in 198 ABs.

By: Padman Jones

Padman Jones — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:47:40 +0000

I’m not saying he did steroids, I’m just saying that I’m glad it’s not one of those situations where the media are playing the did he/didn’t he game. Of course, that’s probably just because most of them don’t, yknow, know who he is, or that his season is so out-of-nowhere.

By: lincolndude

lincolndude — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:45:38 +0000

The plate discipline looks real, but the ISO? I understand that it’s the same as what he did in 200 PA last year, but where the hell did that come from?