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Thread: Joey Votto: Run Producer

  1. #1
    High five!
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    Joey Votto: Run Producer

    Here's a pretty interesting article about Votto's run production this year.

    I found this graph interesting:

    The simple fact is Votto is both disciplined and good. Because of the discipline, he’ll work a lot of counts and he’ll draw a lot of walks. Because of the talent, sometimes he’ll be pitched around in bigger spots. This year, with runners in scoring position — and excluding intentional walks — Votto has seen the fourth-lowest strike rate in baseball. That’s strike rate, not zone rate, but clearly, Votto isn’t seeing pitchers aggressively pound the zone. They’re aware of what he can do, and they don’t want for him to beat them.
    Read it all here!

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    Member RadfordVA's Avatar
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    Re: Joey Votto: Run Producer

    Another interesting Votto tidbit I just noticed. According to Fangraphs numbers he is the best baserunning 1st baseman in MLB. Faint praise I know.

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    Re: Joey Votto: Run Producer

    Great pull from the article. It's that reasoning is why it drives me nuts to hear people like Marty. He's one of the best hitters in baseball, therefore will get less pitches to hit. That's why having a protector in the 2-hole is so important, but we usually have Cozart there. For Votto to get more RBI's, there needs to be higher OBP for the 2-hole that leads to RBI's. GET THAT MARTY?!

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    Bullpen or whatever RedEye's Avatar
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    Re: Joey Votto: Run Producer

    The merits of "protection" are a matter of current debate as far as I understand. No matter though -- Votto's hit tool is already enough for pitchers to avoid giving him anything to hit.

  7. #5
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    Re: Joey Votto: Run Producer

    It would have been interesting to see which players saw the first, second and third fewest pitches in the strike zone with runners in scoring position.

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    Member RedsManRick's Avatar
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    Re: Joey Votto: Run Producer

    Quote Originally Posted by RedEye View Post
    The merits of "protection" are a matter of current debate as far as I understand. No matter though -- Votto's hit tool is already enough for pitchers to avoid giving him anything to hit.
    What they've found is that having no/poor protection tends to help your OBP and hurt your SLG. Pretty intuitive, but the "surprising" finding is that it basically comes out in the wash in terms of overall productivity.

    In this particular case, it is noteworthy, because BP being poor protection has probably contributed to Votto's high OBP a bit. Or more ironically, BPs overall offensive averageness has contributed to his having so many RBI opportunities -- both as a function of Votto being on base and Votto not having driven more people in himself. If BP were more fearsome a hitter, Votto would probably have more RBI.
    Games are won on run differential -- scoring more than your opponent. Runs are runs, scored or prevented they all count the same. Worry about scoring more and allowing fewer, not which positions contribute to which side of the equation or how "consistent" you are at your current level of performance.

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  10. #7
    Bullpen or whatever RedEye's Avatar
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    Re: Joey Votto: Run Producer

    Quote Originally Posted by RedsManRick View Post
    In this particular case, it is noteworthy, because BP being poor protection has probably contributed to Votto's high OBP a bit. Or more ironically, BPs overall offensive averageness has contributed to his having so many RBI opportunities -- both as a function of Votto being on base and Votto not having driven more people in himself. If BP were more fearsome a hitter, Votto would probably have more RBI.
    But if RBI is basically a team stat, then it doesn't matter that much for overall run production, right? I mean, wouldn't we rather have Votto with high OBP (better out avoidance) than a lot of RBI? The logic would be that either way BP is going to be his average self, so he might as well use that average-ness to drive in runs from a sublimely out-avoiding Votto. Right? Or maybe I'm getting that confused.

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    Re: Joey Votto: Run Producer

    Quote Originally Posted by RedEye View Post
    But if RBI is basically a team stat, then it doesn't matter that much for overall run production, right? I mean, wouldn't we rather have Votto with high OBP (better out avoidance) than a lot of RBI? The logic would be that either way BP is going to be his average self, so he might as well use that average-ness to drive in runs from a sublimely out-avoiding Votto. Right? Or maybe I'm getting that confused.
    The point is that having "protection" doesn't make you a better hitter and not having protection doesn't make you a less productive hitter.

    The bigger point we should take away is that managers should stop worrying about protecting certain guys and trying to make certain kinds of production happen and instead simply worry about giving the best hitters the most plate appearances.
    Games are won on run differential -- scoring more than your opponent. Runs are runs, scored or prevented they all count the same. Worry about scoring more and allowing fewer, not which positions contribute to which side of the equation or how "consistent" you are at your current level of performance.

  12. #9
    Bullpen or whatever RedEye's Avatar
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    Re: Joey Votto: Run Producer

    Quote Originally Posted by RedsManRick View Post
    The point is that having "protection" doesn't make you a better hitter and not having protection doesn't make you a less productive hitter.

    The bigger point we should take away is that managers should stop worrying about protecting certain guys and trying to make certain kinds of production happen and instead simply worry about giving the best hitters the most plate appearances.
    I got that. I thought you were saying something different in the passage I cited above. Maybe I misunderstood.
    “Every level he goes to, he is going to compete. They will know who he is at every level he goes to.” -- ED on EDLC


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