Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Monday Night Reds Monitor - Through 11 May

This is my weekly look at the Reds' season-to-date statistics, with minimal (for me) commentary.

I've tried to include notes below each table about the meaning of some of the more obscure statistics, and many of these stats are discussed in detail in my player value series (see sidebar). But if you have questions please do not hesitate to ask!

NL Central Update

Team W L PCT GB RS* RS/G* RA* RA/G* Pwins W%for90 XtrapW
CHN 22 15 0.595 0.0 205 5.54 153 4.15 24 0.544 96
STL 23 16 0.590 0.0 181 4.63 157 4.03 22 0.545 96
HOU 21 17 0.553 1.5 185 4.87 166 4.37 21 0.556 90
MIL 18 19 0.486 4.0 156 4.23 177 4.79 16 0.576 79
PIT 17 19 0.472 4.5 181 5.02 198 5.50 16 0.579 77
CIN 15 23 0.395 7.5 160 4.22 189 4.98 16 0.605 64
Remarks: RS, RA, RS/G and RA/G are all park-adjusted. Pwins is the PythagoPat predicted wins for each team. W%for90 is the winning percentage a team will need from now on to reach 90 wins. XtrapW is the extrapolated number of wins the team will get, assuming they maintain the same winning percentage.

The Reds went 3-3 over the past week, thanks to improvements on both offense and defense...still on track for a sub-70 win season, though, which isn't acceptable...at this point it will take better than 0.600 ball over the rest of the season to get to the 90-win plateau, which seems unlikely to me.....St. Louis's pitching took a bit of a hit as the Cubs took over the division lead, if only due to the number of games the two teams have played...somehow, 7.5 games doesn't seem so bad.....Houston continues to outperform expectations, placing themselves now just 1.5 games out of first.....The Brew Crew continue to struggle...fwiw, Pythagoras predicts that Cinci, the Pirates, and the Brewers should all have won 16 games at this point...though the Reds have played the most games of those three teams, so they still rank last overall...

Hitting
Last First PA BB% K% %LD BABIP AVG OBP SLG ISO OPS PrOPS lwts_RC R/G RAR
Encarnacion Edwin 153 12% 12% 10% 0.252 0.261 0.353 0.500 0.239 0.853 0.867 22.7 6.03 9.7
Phillips Brandon 152 7% 18% 19% 0.312 0.284 0.329 0.511 0.227 0.840 0.798 22.6 5.82 9.2
Votto Joey D 115 9% 18% 22% 0.299 0.286 0.348 0.552 0.266 0.900 0.929 18.4 6.43 8.5
Bako Paul 104 10% 23% 25% 0.379 0.309 0.375 0.532 0.223 0.907 0.837 16.9 6.84 8.4
Keppinger Jeff S 156 7% 5% 18% 0.331 0.324 0.370 0.430 0.106 0.800 0.750 20.2 5.35 7.2
Dunn Adam 141 19% 23% 16% 0.237 0.214 0.362 0.411 0.197 0.773 0.904 18.0 5.25 6.2
Freel Ryan 90 6% 17% 20% 0.377 0.313 0.356 0.386 0.073 0.742 0.641 10.6 4.80 3.0
Griffey Jr. Ken 156 10% 14% 12% 0.274 0.254 0.333 0.384 0.130 0.717 0.734 16.3 4.12 2.7
Hairston Jerry 38 3% 8% 29% 0.300 0.294 0.314 0.441 0.147 0.755 0.814 4.8 4.68 1.3
Patterson Corey 112 7% 10% 15% 0.182 0.196 0.252 0.402 0.206 0.654 0.781 11.2 3.51 0.2
Hopper Norris S 30 7% 0% 14% 0.240 0.240 0.321 0.240 0.000 0.561 0.730 2.6 3.29 -0.1
Ross Dave 19 5% 37% 18% 0.364 0.222 0.263 0.278 0.056 0.541 0.514 1.2 2.23 -0.6
Hatteberg Scott 53 13% 9% 22% 0.220 0.205 0.302 0.273 0.068 0.575 0.752 3.8 2.67 -1.1
Valentin Javier 32 6% 19% 13% 0.250 0.200 0.250 0.233 0.033 0.483 0.561 1.6 1.70 -1.6
Castro Juan 11 9% 0% 10% 0.000 0.000 0.091 0.000 0.000 0.091 0.647 -0.7 -1.72 -2.0
Remarks: PrOPS estimates OPS based on batted ball data, and deviations between the two are often due to "luck." LWTS_RC are estimated runs created based on linear weights. RAR is runs above replacement player, without a position adjustment (that is done with the fielding data). All runs estimates are park-adjusted.

The Reds' LWTS sum to 170 runs, which is 10 fewer than they've actually scored (after adjusting for park). Votto had a heck of a week, but hitting three home runs in a game will do that for you.....Griffey might be showing signs of life.....Keppinger's strikeout rate is crazy-low...he had a nice week as well, but having a 5-hit game will do that for you.....Dunn's walk rate has finally dropped below his strikeout rate, which might mean that he's getting more pitches to hit...if he keeps hitting 7th, though, that won't continue.....Corey Patterson now rates as almost exactly in line with a replacement hitter, despite his outstanding start to the season...I didn't expect him to hit a lot, but I expected him to hit more than this.....David Ross hasn't done much since returning from the DL, but he hasn't gotten many opportunities with Bako hitting the way he is...though Bako's 0.370+ BABIP isn't going to last forever.....and neither is Freel's, so he may not be the answer in lieu of Patterson...


Total Player Value (Hitting + Fielding)

Last First Pos RAR Fielding PosAdj TtlValue
Bako Paul C 8.4 3.5 1.6 13.6
Votto Joey D 1B 8.5 4.4 -1.4 11.5
Phillips Brandon 2B 9.2 0.4 0.2 9.8
Encarnacion Edwin 3B 9.7 -3.4 0.2 6.5
Keppinger Jeff S SS 7.2 -2.3 1.1 6.0
Dunn Adam LF 6.2 -1.3 -1.2 3.7
Freel Ryan CF 3.0 0.1 0.1 3.2
Patterson Corey CF 0.2 1.2 0.6 1.9
Hopper Norris S LF -0.1 0.2 0.0 0.0
Castro Juan SS -2.0 1.5 0.1 -0.3
Hatteberg Scott 1B -1.1 0.3 -0.5 -1.3
Ross Dave C -0.6 -1.0 0.3 -1.4
Hairston Jerry RF 1.3 -3.3 0.1 -1.9
Valentin Javier C -1.6 -1.1 0.4 -2.3
Griffey Jr. Ken RF 2.7 -4.1 -1.2 -2.7
Remarks: RAR is the same as above, and is park-adjusted. Fielding is the average runs saved estimate between ZR and RZR. Position adjustments are adjustments of the run value of a player's positions, pro-rated for playing time. Total value is just the sum of all of these numbers, and is an estimate of total run value above a replacement player.

The Reds remain 5 runs below average among their fielders.....Quick, without looking at this table, which player has cost the Reds more runs than any other this year? If you said Griffey, you win, at least according to these numbers...I love the guy as a person and as a historical player, but I'm extremely hopeful that the rumors of a trade back to Seattle actually come to pass, as he's killing the Reds this season (and that's without accounting for his poor ability to prevent baserunner advancement, or his ability to run the bases)...a surge by him now on offense would help his trade value immensely.....

Pitching

Last First IP K/9 BB/9 HR/9 HR/F %GB BABIP ERA FIP OPSa BsR BsR/G RAR FIPRAR
Volquez Edinson 42.3 11.1 5.1 0.2 4% 55% 0.281 1.06 2.65 0.543 11.2 2.37 16.9 13.2
Harang Aaron 55.3 7.6 2.1 0.8 9% 37% 0.274 3.09 3.20 0.657 20.7 3.37 16.0 13.8
Cordero Francisco 14.0 9.0 6.4 0.0 0% 40% 0.257 1.93 3.26 0.578 4.5 2.89 5.3 2.9
Cueto Johnny 45.7 9.1 2.2 1.8 16% 35% 0.296 5.91 4.18 0.806 25.5 5.01 4.9 6.4
Affeldt Jeremy 16.7 11.3 4.3 0.5 9% 60% 0.293 2.70 2.76 0.607 5.9 3.16 3.4 3.2
Lincoln Mike 17.0 5.8 2.1 1.6 20% 56% 0.278 5.29 4.64 0.806 9.2 4.85 0.3 -0.3
Mercker Kent 11.7 4.6 5.4 0.8 7% 35% 0.297 3.86 4.91 0.792 6.4 4.96 0.1 -0.5
Burton Jared 16.0 12.4 2.8 1.7 16% 48% 0.372 4.50 3.54 0.823 10.4 5.83 -1.5 1.7
Weathers David 10.3 4.4 7.0 0.0 0% 35% 0.333 3.48 4.48 0.810 7.6 6.66 -1.9 0.0
Coffey Todd 15.3 2.9 3.5 1.8 26% 55% 0.278 6.46 5.98 0.879 10.4 6.14 -1.9 -2.5
Bray Bill P 5.0 10.8 5.4 0.0 0% 44% 0.500 5.40 2.52 0.944 5.2 9.29 -2.4 1.1
Belisle Matt 19.3 4.2 2.3 0.9 9% 47% 0.385 7.45 4.20 0.934 16.2 7.57 -3.4 2.7
Arroyo Bronson 40.3 8.5 3.3 1.8 18% 36% 0.354 7.14 4.72 0.928 31.7 7.07 -4.9 3.3
Fogg Josh 22.3 6.9 3.2 2.0 16% 38% 0.320 9.27 5.35 0.923 17.7 7.14 -5.3 -2.1
Remarks: BsR are base runs for a given pitcher, based on hitting events (not earned runs). RAR is base runs above replacement player, using a different standard for starters and relievers. Relievers with saves get a leverage-index boost in their RAR value. FIPRAR is a DIPS-based estimate of runs above replacement, using Tom Tango's Fielding Independent Runs as the runs estimator.

Cueto's peripherals continue to look pretty good, though that homer rate (and fly ball rate) are an ongoing concern.....I can't decide if I should be concerned about Cordero's walk rate or not, but I finally decided to bring it up...and that's all I'm going to say about it.....Last week, I noted that Lincoln's strikeout rate was trending in the wrong direction...and this week he got shelled.....welcome back to David Weathers, I guess...please don't kill the 'pen.....Don't look now, but after a strong showing last week, Arroyo's FIP has dipped below 5.0...and Belisle's FIP still looks extremely good, despite the horrendous ERA and strikeout rates...I'd hang with both of them at least a bit longer...

Expected Wins
The Reds' BsR sums up to 183, which is 6 fewer runs than they've allowed...combine that with the LWTS-estimated 170 runs scored, and you have a predicted 0.463 winning percentage...that's starting to get a bit encouraging, but it'd still be last in the division...

Thanks to the Hardball Times, who supplied most of the statistics used above. ZR data came from ESPN.com.

2 comments:

  1. The thing about Griffey is he keeps getting plugged in the 3 or 4 hole - he's a rally killer. That's the price of superstardom - inability to play him like a sub-normal plater.

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  2. That, and his defense is so bad it more than has negated what little offense he's still contributed. I think the defense is a bigger problem than where he's hitting--after all, he did project to be the Reds' 3rd or 4th best hitter this season by most forecasts, so it's justifiable to bat him where they're batting him. But yeah, he hasn't been very helpful to the team this year... -j

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