But if they attack him that means he will get more pitches to hit. So far Taveras has been pretty paitent at the plate not swinging at many bad pitches. The key for him is how often he gets on base. Even if pitchers pound the strikezone because he doesn't have HR power, he still will see more good pitches to hit. If Taveras gets on base he has the ability to turn a bunt single into a triple. To be quite honest I don't know why he hasn't run much so far this year but I expect to see more of it as the season progresses.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
Looking at it from a pitcher's point of view, the ideal hitter is another pitcher. The second most ideal hitter is a power-deficient guy whose OBP is singles driven. Unless the guy is Ichiro (i.e. a freak who still manages an above average wOBA), such a hitter generally is a great risk from a making contact standpoint.
I think that's the context for what several have alluded to in this thread concerning WT's issues with getting on base and hitting for power.
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
I'm not sure I do. In the three seasons before '08, he attempted 45, 42 and 42 steals (granted he only played 97 games in '07). So far this season, he's on pace for 43 attempts, which is right in line with those numbers.
Now maybe we'll get the '08 version of Taveras when he ran like his hair was on fire (75 attempts) - and I hope we do - but he's really going to have to take it up a notch for that to happen.
"I can make all the stadiums rock."
-Air Supply
I agree, generally. In fact I had a post in the SunDeck stating that Taveras' biggest problem is not his low OBP, but his low SLG, for the very reason you just stated.
However...
My point in this last post was that I was surprised at how hard Taveras hits the ball. He does not swing like a punch and judy hitter, he really crushes the ball when he makes solid contact. The reason his SLG is so low is because of his approach, which is to pound the ball into the ground and his size.
I don't think that pitchers look at a hitter's SLG when they are on the mound. Sure, the pre-game meeting points this out, but when a pitcher faces Taveras, and sees his swing, they probably are more fearful of him than his SLG would dictate, and are more likely to be careful with him than they would be with most guys with his SLG.
That's all I'm saying.
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein
Well, except that Taveras has a career LD% of 14% and only 12% this year. By comparison, Votto is at 26%, Bruce is at 21% and Edwin is at 21% (all career numbers).
If I'm a pitcher, I'm going right after Willy.
"I can make all the stadiums rock."
-Air Supply
LD% is very subjective. It does not include hard hit grounders, which is Taveras' style. It should be low for him, you want him hitting grounders with his speed. And we have seen this year, that when he can get one of those grounders past the infield, they can get to wall real fast. You can crush the ball, and still have a low LD rate.
Anyway, my point is that Taveras appears to hit the ball harder than his numbers indicate. I am not saying that he has "hidden" power, just that pitchers, while they should go right at him, might be a bit fearful based on how hard he swings. Not a very compelling argument I know.
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein
Has he done anything Norris Hopper couldn't have done?
One would expect a lightning-fast GB hitter to have a sustainably higher than average BABIP. For all of Taveras' lightning fast, hard-hittingness, his BABIP, isn't that impressively higher than average.
I'm not really buying the "he doesn't hit for power but pitchers fear his ability to hit the ball hard" argument.
He's a singles hitter. He may hit grounders harder than normal but it doesn't seem to translate.
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
Board Moderators may, at their discretion and judgment, delete and/or edit any messages that violate any of the following guidelines: 1. Explicit references to alleged illegal or unlawful acts. 2. Graphic sexual descriptions. 3. Racial or ethnic slurs. 4. Use of edgy language (including masked profanity). 5. Direct personal attacks, flames, fights, trolling, baiting, name-calling, general nuisance, excessive player criticism or anything along those lines. 6. Posting spam. 7. Each person may have only one user account. It is fine to be critical here - that's what this board is for. But let's not beat a subject or a player to death, please. |