Comments on: No More Nomar?

By: Paul Thomas

Paul Thomas — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 05:07:35 +0000

Eric Chavez has one of the most pronounced platoon splits of anybody in baseball. If he’s hitting in the 9th inning, it’s invariably against either a lefty reliever or the other team’s closer. This is why he is considered “unclutch”, btw.

Curtis Granderson has the same problem.

By: MBD

MBD — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:08:35 +0000

I think it’s because Nomar wears down over the course of the game. His best numbers in recent years come in the 5th inning, after he’s seen the starter a couple times but before he gets tired. In the 6th, he starts to fall off, and the trend continues through the 9th. In his younger days, he feasted on relievers and tired starters in the late innings.

By: don

don — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:06:52 +0000

Do they throw specialist righty relievers at Nomar, or is that just an artifact of very small sample size? One extra bloop single over 47ABs increases the BA by more than .020. A guy like Howard, it’s the fact that in late innings they’ll make sure he sees a lefty and he can’t hit them.

By: scatterbrian

scatterbrian — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 20:22:52 +0000

shit, what about Manny? No matter what Peter Gammons says went on behind the scenes, Without Manny, the Red Sox probably wouldn’t have won those two World Series.

By: scatterbrian

scatterbrian — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 19:48:29 +0000

I submit the main reason Harden wasn’t included is because he wasn’t in a big enough market. He easily has/had All-Star/elite talent, as well as the injury proneness. He just didn’t disappoint as many fans as in Chicago or Boston.

By: Rob in CT

Rob in CT — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 19:38:13 +0000

It is too bad about Nomar. I used to really enjoy those Jeter/Nomar debates. I’m a Yanks fan and I used to have long debates with a Sox fan friend about the relative merits of the two SS’s. I though Nomar was the superior player. He preferred Jeter. I believe I was right until the wrist injury… and even after that (but before the injuries started to really pile up) I bet it was close.

By: MBD

MBD — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:14:18 +0000

Note that Nomar was also strong against lefties in 2006 (.341/.420/.600). Even with his terrible 2007 campaign, his 3-year numbers vs LHPs are pretty good (.289/.368/.502). But he can’t do much against righties anymore; his OBP against them for the last 3 years is .339, and in 2008 it was .270.

Also, he used to get better as the game went on. From 2000 through 2008, he led all hitters (min 150 PAs) in batting average in the 9th inning – .362 (full line is .362/.404/.558). But those numbers are built on his success from 2000 through his 2006 comeback year. Over the last 2 years, his 9th-inning numbers (over 47 ABs) have dropped to .234/.280/.383. In short, you’re better off taking him out against righties and/or in the final frame, perhaps against someone like Lidge. ;-)

Side note: Recently, Ryan Howard has been equally bad in the 9th (.170/.295/.307 over the past 2 years), while Giambi has been fine (.262/.368/.462). Daric Barton (numbers are mostly from 2008) has this line in the 9th: .143/.308/.238. Pedro Feliz has a 9th-inning OBP of .305 over the last 2 years, and Eric Chavez (limited action) has an OBP of .205! So among the likely replacements for Nomar in the 9th on the Phillies and A’s (assuming the pinch hitter will play Garciaparra’s position), only Giambi looks promising. Nomar would appear to be an upgrade over the others in the 9th, especially in the power department, except that his limited pinch-hit numbers over the last 3 years (25 PAs) show that he can take a walk but has no power coming off the bench (.176/.391/.176 – not a typo).

I’d say Nomar is best as a starter against lefties who comes out after 6 innings, which would work well if the LHP also left the game around that time.

By: BD

BD — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:07:50 +0000

“I would like to avoid having a Hall of Fame discussion . . .”

Then your choice of Garciaparra as the subject of the post was a wise one.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:07:27 +0000

Well I guess I shouldn’t generalize, but I think most Red Sox fans did. Or maybe just the ones with loud mouths did.

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 06:02:49 +0000

Jim, I never turned on Nomar. But he did turn down a rather generous contract offer if I recall. And I posted a comment on this already, but left my website in the box, so it probably needs to be reviewed or something. Nomar made some pretty crazy looking throws, but was still one of the best players in the game for a 6-7 year period. I will never forget that. I still love watching him hit, although not against Brad Lidge :) But he is my favorite player ever.