ESPN's Olney: Polanco Will Help Manufacture Runs
by Ian Casselberry on Dec 5, 2009 1:25 PM EST
in Detroit Tigers News
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PrintOkay, I thought we were done with Placido Polanco posts, but I guess we'll have to get through the weekend before moving on. While writing about Polanco signing with the Phillies (Insider), Buster Olney said something that caused an eyebrow to raise:
The Phillies also believe that Polanco will help them do a better job of manufacturing runs at the top of their order. The team has, year after year, consistently ranked near the top of the major leagues in runs scored, but the front office has come to believe that the team is too reliant on home runs -- on big swings -- and has become prone to strikeouts and pop-ups in situations in which they might be well-served by a ground ball to the right side.
Say what now? Manufacturing runs? Helping a team prone to strikeouts and pop-ups, when a ground ball is needed? How exactly did that work for the Tigers this year?
That's not to say that Polanco won't be a good fit in the Phillies' batting order. He should be. And he was a great fit in the Tigers' lineup, providing something that no one else could. But Polanco didn't exactly help Detroit in the areas Olney mentioned. It's interesting to see how differently a team (and national writer) can view something.
One more Tigers note from Olney: According to what he hears from executives around baseball, Detroit isn't shopping Curtis Granderson around that aggressively. The inference seems to be that the Tigers either don't believe they'd get full value in any prospective trade, or that the backlash against trading such a popular player gave them second thoughts.
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His skills didn’t make much of a difference hitting between Clete Thomas and Curtis Granderson most of the year. I think he’ll prove far more valuable between Victorino and Utley (presuming Rollins relinquishes the lead-off spot with his poor hitting).
Rollins won't, Charlie won't do it
I kind of wonder if the reason the Phillies didn’t go after Chone Figgins was because they didn’t want to create a “leadoff controversy” between he and Rollins. Truthfully, Rollins bad OBP but strong XBH skills would be better served 6th or 7th in the lineup, with a really good OBP guy like Figgins at the top. But no, they’ll let Rollins burn up outs at the top of the lineup, like kindling. However… see my other post about leading the league in runs scored.
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adrian!
Beltre was my first choice, honestly. I’m guessing they thought he’d be too pricey; as he’s a Boras client, the Phillies might have been right.
http://www.thegoodphight.com
ugh..
every story is like a punch to the chest now. let it stop.
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Except the Phillies were 9th out of 16 teams in the NL in strikeouts, and led the league in runs scored.
The idea that the Phillies are “strikeout prone” is an article of faith among the stupid.
Frankly I could give a damn how they score runs, so long as they keep leading the league in that category (or coming close) I suspect a “productive out” (yuck) or two lost here or there won’t be such a bad thing.
I don’t dislike the Polanco signing, but I wish they’d stop pitching it to us as a “he manufactures runs and plays small ball, the rest of the Phillies suck at that, their offense is dysfunctional and Polanco will fix that!”
He’s a nice player and will be an offensive upgrade over Pedro Feliz (of course I suspect Mike Schmidt could outhit Feliz, in 2010).
http://www.thegoodphight.com
In Other News...
…“National Writers Completely Misunderstand Detroit, Make Things Up”
Don’t ever expect ESPN to know what they’re talking about when not talking about either the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, or Dodgers.
It will help Polly “manufacture” runs when we have a leadoff guy who doesn’t have 140 K’s and a sudden decline in XB hits.
Nothing against Grandy, but he wasn’t nearly the “table setter” last year that he’d been.
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The more I look at Grandy's numbers, the weirder they look
It seems to be the lack of extra-base hits that was the culprit, because he struck out exactly the same number of times that he did in ‘07 (141, and remember he struck out 174 times in 2006). But at the same time, he established a new career high in walks in 2009. He actually hit better against lefties in ’09 (.186) than he did in ’07 (.160). He did hit .259 against them in 2008, and I can’t see why he couldn’t tap into that again.
by SabreRoseTiger on Dec 5, 2009 6:45 PM EST up reply actions
Because it was a career year
That being said, if he’d hit .200 or .220 against lefties, he’d be so much better…
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Well, the only things guaranteed to stop you entirely are age and certain types of injuries
In all other scenarios, if you can figure out what the adjustment is, you can repeat. There are times where that’s exceptionally difficult to find, but not impossible.
by SabreRoseTiger on Dec 5, 2009 7:16 PM EST up reply actions
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