Comments on: World Series Preview

By: Ethel Stender

Ethel Stender — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 08:45:00 +0000

Some really fantastic work on behalf of the owner of this website , utterly outstanding subject matter.

By: Bill B.

Bill B. — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:59:49 +0000

I meant the NL, sorry. But, it’s still really, really bad.

By: don

don — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:44:31 +0000

That’s incorrect. I’m not sure where you got that stat. Ruiz is certainly below average, but among the AL catchers with enough innings to qualify, he had a better CS % than Jason Varitek, Kelly Shoppach,Ramon Hernandez, and A.J. Pierzynski.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/fielding?groupId=9&sortColumn=catcherCaughtStealingPct&sortOrder=true&split=78&qualified=1&season=2008&seasonType=2

By: Bill B.

Bill B. — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:05:17 +0000

The Phillies’ catcher, Carlos Ruiz, would be dead last in CS% in the AL if he had enough defensive innings to qualify. Chris Coste is even worse. The Rays’ catcher, Dioner Navarro, led the AL in CS%. That’s why I think speed will be a factor, and one that plays in the Rays’ favor.

By: don

don — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:56:47 +0000

The stats behind Bill’s comment:

The MLB average team stole 93 bases and was caught stealing 35 times for a 73% success rate. The difference between the AL and the NL averages was surprisingly (to me) negligible.

The Rays stole 142 bases, most in the MLB, and were caught 50 times, for a 74% success rate. Their opponents were held to 76 SB and 31 CS, a 71% rate.

The Phillies stole 136 bases with only 25 CS, for a MLB best 84% success rate. Their opponents had 107 SB and were caught 34 times, a 76% clip. Coste and Ruiz had basically the same rate of throwing out batters.

By: Bill B.

Bill B. — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 22:05:59 +0000

I’m sure you know this, but Shane Victorino is a switch-hitter. It came across in the article that he was just right-handed. He is indeed better against left-handed pitching (and thus would bat right-handed) — an .882 OPS in 196 PA vs LHP, a .762 OPS in 431 PA vs RHP this season.

I think the key to the series is speed. The Phillies’ catchers, contrary to popular opinion, haven’t been good defensively. Bartlett, Crawford, and Upton can all steal bases with abandon. On the other hand, Dioner Navarro was the best at throwing out base stealers in the AL, so the running game of Rollins, Victorino, and Werth may be shut down — not that base-stealing played a role in the NLDS or NLCS for the Phillies.