Comments on: NLCS Preview: Offense

By: Jacob

Jacob — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:42:18 +0000

On Around the Horn on espn, bill plashke (LA Times), Woody Paige and Jackie McMullen were all saying how the dodgers are great, their bullpen, their left handed pitching all saying how phils will lose, how dodgers have better swagger and chemistry. Bill as a biased LA fan, started saying this series is over even before they started the NLCS topic! wow, u don’t see philly writers doing that instead they say phils have a good chance to lose. underdogs like always. media is media and stats are stats

By: Chuck

Chuck — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:23:34 +0000

He’ll look lost as well as he’s chasing down a hit in the gap and tripping over his dreadlocks…

By: Don M

Don M — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:00:04 +0000

Dodgers fans like the Dogers’ players, and should swoon over them on Dodgers’ websites …

Victorino, Werth, Ibanez is a great outfield.. and those three guys fit perfectly into our lineup

Manny is a nightmare in the OF .. Kemp is a great player.. MVP in the waiting.. and Ethier is a very good player, although I think Werth is better

Manny is a .270 hitter who plays crappy defense since he got busted for steriods.. . and he’ll look lost out there tonight when our guys are shooting extra-base hits in the LF corner!

By: Table

Table — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:49:17 +0000

Also, the Phillies superior power is not as great as it would seem. How many more homers would the Dodgers hit playing in that park? I would guess 20% more at least.

By: SDO

SDO — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:43:48 +0000

I would. Manny is a liability out there. Maybe it’s those feminine hips he’s been trying to develop.

By: Table

Table — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:04:35 +0000

LOL you wish the Phillies had a better outfield.

Would any of you honestly take the Phillie’s three over the Dodger’s three if you could swap them? I don’t think so.

By: Bob Kahn

Bob Kahn — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:02:57 +0000

jbp –

Your suggestion is excellent! It makes so much more sense. Batters should compare to batters, not fielders! It is not conventional, just better! Congrats – we need to spread this around.

By: PhanAttic Will

PhanAttic Will — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:01:31 +0000

The outfield the closet I think. I got a pretty nice comparison on my site if anyone wants to take a peek.

LET’S GO FIGHTIN’S!

By: jbp

jbp — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:21:14 +0000

@Philly Geoff

I was thinking MLB but, admittedly, I was just throwing it out there. Maybe he’s better than that…I’ll have to dig some.

@The Original Chuck P

Thanks for at least kind of agreeing with me! I really want to discuss this “pet peeve” of mine but I don’t want to hijack the comments. Thanks for your thoughts.

By: beta sigma shag

beta sigma shag — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:57:42 +0000

i have a strange request, I have 4 tickets to game 4 at the bank. I have two tickets in sec.242 and 2 tickets in 331. I live in Vermont and split the sunday package with my sister who lives outside of philly. And I was wondering if any on here would trade two tickets in either section for 2 tickets in the other. In other words I would four tickets in either 331 or 242. So if anyone wants to swap seats e mail me shagmec13@msn.com

By: Philly Geoff

Philly Geoff — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:49:09 +0000

Utley is the 10th best number 3 hitter in the NL or MLB?

By: The Original Chuck P

The Original Chuck P — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:44:45 +0000

I’m with you, jbp…. kind of. I think that it’s only fair to compare “Chase Utley” as a player to other second basemen because that’s what he plays. But when you’re comparing teams, it’s better to compare lineups, at least for offensive purposes… here’s how I see it (offense):

Rollins/Furcal – Furcal (by a hair)
Vic/Kemp – Kemp (by a fair amount)
Utley/Ethier – Utley (by a hair… Ethier is pretty damn good)
Howard/Manny – Howard (by a hair)
Ibanez/Loney – Ibanez (by a fair amount)
Werth/Blake – Werth (by a fair amount)
Feliz/Belliard – Belliard (by a fair amount)
Chooch/Martin – Chooch (by a hair)

So we have a clear advantage in the heart of our lineup… they are better at the top. It’s close… we’re a better power team but they’re good at finding ways to get the guys at the top of their order on base. If you can somehow control Furcal and Kemp, you can control this lineup (they’re not a great power hitting team – Loney in the 5 hole has fewer than 20 HR’s).

Defensively, both teams are pretty good but we’re definitely better at these positions: 2B, SS, 3B, C and RF. We’re equal in CF and LF. I’ll give them 1B… that’s it.

They have a clear bullpen and bench advantage…

We are a better team on the basepaths…

Their manager is better but we have a better home field advantage…

Our starting rotation is better… wild cards being Hamels and Kuroda.

At the end of the day, we’re a better team on paper but they have some advantages in areas that have been known to affect the outcome of a series. If Hamels comes out and wins game one, that is a huge tone setter because the rest of our rotation is SURELY better.

By: WTF?

WTF? — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:40:53 +0000

What no mention of the dirt bags from McFaddens that are facing murder charges? One is even facing 1st degree murder. What a bunch of hot head losers!

By: Pat Gallen

Pat Gallen — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:46:39 +0000

I would have liked to put defense in, but it’s already long to begin with. It definitely changes things when you add that.

By: Manny

Manny — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:49:03 +0000

Remember guys this post is only about offense.

By: joedad

joedad — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:46:25 +0000

Manny is terrible defensively and his power numbers are down this year. Hmmm, I wonder why. Manny is slightly better offensively but is a huge defensive liability. I’d give the slight edge to Raul.

Phil, I don’t agree Kemp has a major edge on Victorino. Kemp has better power numbers and but his OPS is only 40 points higher. Both are relatively equal on the basepaths and Vic is probably slightly better defensively. Overall a slight edge to Kemp.

By: Phil

Phil — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:06:04 +0000

I agree with all of the match ups besides OF. Dodgers have an edge, not a slight edge, a full edge. Werth is the only player better than his counterpart, and that is only by a slight edge. Manny has a slight edge on Ibanez and Kemp has a major edge on Victorino.

By: skeurton

skeurton — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:02:03 +0000

great article, pat. any chance of a follow-up article comparing the bats off the bench? i think this will play a huge role offensively speaking, just as much as the starting lineups. just curious what your thoughts are on this.

By: jbp

jbp — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:53:12 +0000

Pat,

Agree with your analysis but I would like to mention a pet peeve of mine that, strangely, no one that I know of shares: comparing defensive positions while talking about batting. That’s a weird way to say it so let me try to explain…

It drives me nuts when someone says something like “Chase Utley is the best 2nd baseman in the league because he has a high OPS against both righties and lefties…” Shouldn’t Chase Utley be compared to other 3-hitters? How does he rank as a 3-hitter? Or, if you want to be more general about it, how does he rank as a middle-lineup hitter? Not to pick on Chase because I think he’s very good but I think he’s a little overrated because people say “he’s the best 2nd baseman in the league!” when, as a 3-hitter, he’s probably around tenth or so.

Anyway, I’m at work and shouldn’t really be posting so I’ll leave it at that but I just want to say 1) I’m not criticizing your analysis…I think you did a good job 2) I’m really trying to figure out why I don’t see more “1-hitter vs. 1-hitter, etc.” analysis and everyone seems to just bin players in their defensive roles. What am I not getting?

By: bfo_33

bfo_33 — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:50:31 +0000

This has the look of an epic series (Astros-Phils of 80?) – games decided in late/extra innings very close match. Not just being an optimistic phan, I think the starting pitching of LA is going to tear into the bullpen early and often – split the first 4, then LA bullpen folds. I also think Lee and Hamels will neutralize the lefties more so than Kershaw and Wolf. I would be very surprised to see Padilla go 4 innings, although he has a history of screwing the Phils.

I think Charlie and Torre are the same – more clubhouse than field managers, but with a great group of coaches (somebody is going to snatch Lopes for a mgr role, hope we can hold onto him for another year).

I’d love to see the Phils win it in Philly, but think it will go 6.

I think the Yanks and Angels line up very well also, think it will come down to home cooking. Don’t see either team winning a game on the road. Yanks in 7.