Willy Taveras - 2009 to date

[SirFelixCat]

23 AB's against LH pitching this year and he still has a .333 OBP against them in limited and highly sporadic appearances.

I'll take CD over WT in EVERY situation.

Here are the splits vs LH's

Taveras: 66 AB's .227 .268 .288 .556

Dickerson: 23 AB's .227 .333 .273 .606

I believe that since CD is light years better than WT vs RH's that his numbers vs LH's would naturally creep up to at least .700 OPS with regular PT against them.

Fair enough. I just looked up his numbers as well, while you were typing this and I saw the same thing.

I guess, like I had said, small sample size, coupled w/ short-term memory did me in

It's beyond crystal clear, yet Dusty is blind to it. Frustrating.

[Raisor]

Last two weeks WT has been pretty great.

.371 .389 .457 .846

Now, let's hope he can turn two weeks into three.

[Mario-Rijo]

Last two weeks WT has been pretty great.

.371 .389 .457 .846

Now, let's hope he can turn two weeks into three.

It's funny, so far whenever he has shown any degree of patience whatsoever beyond a pitch or 2 he does alright. That patience always seems to be fleeting however. He's lucky I'm not his manager I'd be on him after every PA he screwed up until he showed some signs of doing it consistently.

[OnBaseMachine]

Last two weeks WT has been pretty great.

.371 .389 .457 .846

Now, let's hope he can turn two weeks into three.

His OPS is all the way up to .590!

[Ltlabner]

After the end of June it's time for the Willy T update. I must say, his little hot streak seems to have put an end to the absolute free-fall he was in mid June. He has been hitting much better and kudos to him for it.

NAME	         PA    EqA    OBP    SLG     OUTR     VORP    RAR     RAP
Willy Taveras	108   .243   .330   .330    0.64815   0.3     1.4    -3.3
Willy Taveras	201   .242   .318   .328    0.65174  -0.2     2.4    -5.6
Willy Taveras	232   .213   .281   .286    0.69397  -7.0    -3.7   -13.4
Willy Taveras	289   .221   .288   .302    0.69204  -6.8    -2.6   -15.5

Unfortunately, he's such a weak batter than even with a hot couple of weeks his numbers still indicate he's a drag on the offense. And that drag is set squarely at the top of the lineup.

He's still sub-replacement in VOPR and RAR. His Outrate still hovers at nearly 70%. His OBP has seen a bit of a bounce-back, but because it's so hit driven its still in dismal territory (see more below). His EqA remains dismally below average.

           AVG    OBP 	 SLG 	 OPS
v Left    .211	 .250	.268	.518
v Right   .257	 .302	.314	.616

For the more traditional minded folks numbers-wise, here's his line(s). Again, he's particularly useless against lefties.

One thing that Wee-Willy can do to improve his effectiveness is take a walk. It's not news, but he's taken 15 walks this year. By way of comparison, Brandon Phillips, who's never seen a breaking ball he wouldn't swing at, has 30.

When your walk-rate is 5% you absolutely must maintain your hit rate to get on-base and avoid soaking up outs. Since the hits for him will wax and wain, and he's been fighting off a tweaked hammy, he'd be wise to work with Jacoby hardcore to learn how to take a walk.

Taking walks when you aren't getting the pitches to hit is always a good idea, but it's especially critical that Willy take walks. Unfortunately he's averaged 30 walks all year the past 3 year so he's pretty much doing what he's always done. Looks like it will take divine intervention for him to suddenly take the base on balls.

So he's back to depending on his hit rate and wheels to keep from being a trainwreck. Since he has zero power, he's depending on the infield hits (assuming his wheels are working), and for hits to fall in. Doesn't leave him much margin for error.

As far as the havoc goes, he's getting dangerously close to not being able to hit even 30 stolen bases (let alone 60 or 100). He's on pace for 32 with 16 stolen thus far. He's been avoiding CS/Pickoffs so that's good. Maybe with his more healthy wheels he'll resume swiping bases.

[flyer85]

... he'd be wise to work with Jacoby hardcore to learn how to take a walk.

Taking walks when you aren't getting the pitches to hit is always a good idea, but it's especially critical that Willy take walks. Unfortunately he's averaged 30 walks all year the past 3 year so he's pretty much doing what he's always done. Looks like it will take divine intervention for him to suddenly take the base on balls.

His inability to walk is not a product of his hacking at bad pitches as much as it is his complete lack of power. when you have no power pitchers have no reason not to challenge you and throw strikes.

[Ltlabner]

His inability to walk is not a product of his hacking at bad pitches as much as it is his complete lack of power. when you have no power pitchers have no reason not to challenge you and throw strikes.

Further highlighting how truly one dimensional the guy is.

[flyer85]

Further highlighting how truly one dimensional the guy is.

a batter can only take a walk if a pitcher is willing to give one. They have no reason to walk Willy T ... ever.