Comments on: O-Swing% and GMs

By: David Appelman

David Appelman — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 01:30:10 +0000

dave, you can see all the complete list here: http://www.fangraphs.com/teams.aspx?lg=all&stats=bat&type=4&season=2008&month=0

By: dave

dave — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 22:22:09 +0000

Why make a post like this, giving us the top and bottom 8, but nothing in between? There’s only 14 more teams there, guys.

By: Oolon

Oolon — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:36:45 +0000

Isaac,

Your point is well taken.

I was looking at Dave’s statement that, “It seems clear that the emphasis of plate discipline as an approach can manifest itself in onfield results.” I didn’t want to look at wins or batting average for “onfield results” and thought that OBP and OPS might be a reasonable places to see the positive results from hitters’ patience. And reviewing the patient team’s OPS vs. the impatient team’s OPS did show a clear difference.

Thanks for the comments.

By: Isaac

Isaac — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:03:30 +0000

Oolon, plate patience shouldn’t be measured by looking at a team’s OBP, as OBP is greatly influenced by BA. The reason Oakland was twenty-eighth in OBP is not because they aren’t selective and/or patient, rather it was because the team couldn’t hit, at all. Oakland’s BA was .242, giving them a .076 isolated patience. Boston, the team with the best OBP in the league, had an isolated patience of .078. Basically, the only difference between the two teams in terms of getting on base was in BA.

By: dan

dan — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 20:05:24 +0000

DePodesta works for San Diego, who ranks 23rd on the list. Granted, he’s not the GM, and hasn’t been working there for a long period of time.

By: Oolon

Oolon — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:36:31 +0000

Of course, the patience that Oakland showed resulted in them placing 28th in OBP and 30th in OPS during the 2008 season. And the impetuousness that the White Sox exhibited resulted in them placing 6th in the league in OPS. So it’s not always a direct correlation.

But overall the top discipline teams do have significantly superior OPS numbers. So it’s probably a very good thing to emphasize. I always shake my head watching the Mariner’s short A team in Everett’s annual bunch of free swingers who often lead the league in team strikeouts…