Jay Bruce 2012 Silver Slugger

[nate]

It's nice and all and Jay had a good season but I don't think he was even close to being one of the top-3 with the bat this past year. To me, the third spot should've been Holiday or perhaps even Dexter Fowler.

[OnBaseMachine]

Originally Posted by MikeThierry

Call me a homer in this but did Jay really have a better year at the plate than Holliday or Beltran? As I understand, the SS are given to outfielders and isn't limited to RF, LF, and CF. I'm not doubting that Jay had a great year at the plate. His HR's and RBI's would suggest so. However when stacked against Matt Holliday, for example, Holliday blows him away in practically every offensive category except HR's and SLG%.

Also, please correct me if I'm wrong in saying that they award it to just 3 OFer's and isn't limited by position.

They should give every single award available to the Cardinals.

[edabbs44]

Originally Posted by OnBaseMachine

They should give every single award available to the Cardinals.

That's not really fair.

[mattfeet]

Originally Posted by OnBaseMachine

They should give every single award available to the Cardinals.

Makes up for Leake not winning, Cueto not in top-3, not a single gold-glove out of 6 nominations, brutal first round exit, Cueto getting hurt, etc. etc. etc. Let us enjoy this one.

-Matt

[OnBaseMachine]

Originally Posted by mattfeet

Makes up for Leake not winning, Cueto not in top-3, not a single gold-glove out of 6 nominations, brutal first round exit, Cueto getting hurt, etc. etc. etc. Let us enjoy this one.

-Matt

Exactly.

[MikeThierry]

Originally Posted by OnBaseMachine

They should give every single award available to the Cardinals.

Kind of silly considering I've never advocated such a thing. Can you objectively say that Bruce had a better year than Holliday did? If you can, please make your case. Otherwise, don't put words in my mouth or don't assume something I don't think.

[Redhook]

Originally Posted by MikeThierry

Can you objectively say that Bruce had a better year than Holliday did?

No, you're right. Holliday's year was better and it wasn't close. I'm not sure how or why Bruce beat him out.

[westofyou]

Originally Posted by Redhook

No, you're right. Holliday's year was better and it wasn't close. I'm not sure how or why Bruce beat him out.

Here's the NL Centrals top ten in OPS vs their league

Fielding Runs above average added for fodder

OPS                             DIFF   PLAYER   LEAGUE     EBH     FRAA    
1    Ryan Braun                 .268     .987     .718       80        2   
2    Andrew McCutchen           .234     .953     .718       66        0   
3    Ryan Ludwick               .158     .877     .718       55       -6   
4    Matt Holliday              .158     .877     .718       65      -13   
5    Carlos Beltran             .123     .842     .718       59       -5   
6    Jay Bruce                  .123     .841     .718       74        9   
7    Alfonso Soriano            .103     .821     .718       67        8   
8    Norichika Aoki             .069     .787     .718       51       -6   
9    Jon Jay                    .054     .773     .718       30       15   
10   Carlos Gomez               .049     .768     .718       42        4

[Bumstead]

Originally Posted by MikeThierry

Can you objectively say that Bruce had a better year than Holliday did?

Yes.

[klw]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

I will buy that he had more plate appearances, thus could have been of more value. But when looking at just the two lines, one is certainly stronger than the other.

One place where Leake has a clear advantage was in sacrifices- 7 to 2. This is one area actually important with pitchers and what they are often asked to do (whether or not it is right to ask them).

The league leader in sacrifices was Cincinnati's own Johnny Cueto with 17 (tied with Juan Pierre)

http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting.../type/expanded

[TeamBoone]

Maybe some of you don't think Jay deserved the award (I do). He was player of the week on several occasions as well as being clutch A LOT. Congrats, Jay.

[PuffyPig]

Originally Posted by Redhook

No, you're right. Holliday's year was better and it wasn't close. I'm not sure how or why Bruce beat him out.

Holliday had a better OPS, but it was about 30 points. Bruce had way better speed.

Bruce's OPS was about 70 points higher with RISP.

It wasn't close? I'm not seeing that.

[edabbs44]

Originally Posted by PuffyPig

Holliday had a better OPS, but it was about 30 points. Bruce had way better speed.

Bruce's OPS was about 70 points higher with RISP.

It wasn't close? I'm not seeing that.

How does speed factor into a slugger award?

[Patrick Bateman]

Originally Posted by edabbs44

How does speed factor into a slugger award?

Well, he was quoting a post that said "Holliday's year was way better," which suggested the poster was not discussing completely from a Silver Slugger perspective.

[PuffyPig]

Originally Posted by edabbs44

How does speed factor into a slugger award?

I believe it's based on offense. Speed is certainly an aspect of offense. So is getting walks. So is BA. It's not simply given to the best "slugger".