On second thought, I'm not even sure what that means. "Wins don't matter"? If wins don't matter, what does? A low ERA when every guy you face posts a lower one?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Yeah, your reaction is similar to mine about protection not existing.

It seems the SABRmetric gods have come to the conclusion that Win shares and Value over replacement player does not correlate with wins.


Im not gonna have that argument with you because Im not even firmly on one side or the other. Im just giving an example of something I dont agree with the SABR community (of nerds)

Correlation isn't everything.

I do think that a threat on the bases provides more protection than a great hitter. And that's simply because teams allow that runner to dictate the way they pitch to the following batter(s). It's what I call a fear factor. The perceived threat is much greater than the reality. I believe that's where you find some hidden value in guys like Podsednik and Pierre. Whether they actually score or not, their presence on the bases seems to disturb many pitchers and get them out of their rhythm. And for a pitcher, rhythm is everything.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Another thing numbers cant prove

Even if the benefits of "protection" are assumed to exist, do they apply to a hitter who almost never walks? Why would a pitcher be more likely groove a fastball if he knows the batter will be swinging regardless.

_________________
“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

Maybe not, but a lot of people seem to think Podesednik was a key guy when he scored 80 runs and drove in 25 in 500 at-bats so it must have been something.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I think they might see more fastballs. A pitcher doesnt want to walk a hitter in front of Pujols

Right. Im saying SABRmetrics cant prove everything and some things are intangible no matter how many supercomputers you own.

No such thing as clutch is great.

How could a human think that? So every person responds the exact same to every amount of pressure in every unique situation?

Caucasian, please

I get the concept of protection but a guy like Castro or Alexei aren't going to walk no matter who's on deck.

_________________
“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

It works for birth control....sometimes

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I don't feel strongly enough about the "protection" thing.to debate it...but common sense says pitch to this guy because so n so is on deck and is very dangerous...And Castro is/was and always will be a better hitter than Alexi..Castro will take more walks with more service time.Tony Campana is probably the fastest guy in the minors/majors and nobody gives a shit when he is on base..they just go right after the next batter...base runners are only a threat if someone knocks em in.

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Why does walking even matter?

I think protection means getting better pitches to hit

Agreed...fastballs are usually the easiest pitch to locate..so in theory you will see more heaters if you have a star on deck.

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Read what you wrote. You specifically link the concept of protection to a pitcher not wanting to issue a walk with a big banger on deck. I would agree with that in principle. However, my point is that it only applies if the hitter is willing to take a walk. If he swings away then there's no reason to be concerned with pitch location.

_________________
“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”- JD Vance
“My god, what an !diot.”- JD Vance tweet on Trump
“I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy”- JD Vance

In addition to disturbing pitchers, having runners on base benefits the batter due to the defense being in motion and thus out of their ideal position more often.

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That would seem to be true to me, but, if we are to accept the current conventional wisdom that batted balls are random (except those that are fielded by guys positioned by Theo Epstein's spray charts), it's just as likely that the runner causes the fielder to move to where the ball is hit as away from it.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Look. The kid is 23. He is gonna go to bars at night. Did not all of us at that age? The big question of do you lock him up now is YES. Long term deal so he is still in a Cub uniform when and if this rebuilding goes the right way.I think for the first time in 104 friggin years that this front office has a plan of action. Castro may never be Jeter but I have always thought of Jeter as a NY/ ESPN / FOX I am gonna tell you who the star is guy. Great player,yes. HOF. Yes. But he has always been built up as the best by the media. IDK if Castro will match or exceed expectations for himself or the Cubs but I sure as hell would not even screw around with this deal. Give him the money. You are getting a young guy on the cheap so to speak. That sure as hell has not been the way they have done it the last 15 years.

I thought rhythm was everything for catholics.

Right but not every guy is Vlad Guerrero. Where they might see a guy who chases sliders and just throw em in the dirt. They might not take such a chance with Bonds on deck. Its a mental thing.

But I guess that's why #2 hitters are usually guys who have good at bats

i just want to know if this behavior is normal for him or something that has just started once he got to mlb.

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the world will always the world. your entire existence is defined by your response.

Bump, I guess Bernsy was reading the board....I stand corrected.

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If Bernsy writes that anti-Beckham column, it'll likely wait until he returns from vacation. He's off the rest of the week with Goff sitting in tomorrow-Thursday & Holmes sitting in Friday with Boers for the "Bud Light 'Who Needs Two?' Tavern Tour" live broadcast in New Lenox.

Truth be told, if there are any true Beckham replacements, they're NOT ready for the majors right now. Besides, Oswaldo Martinez, we hardly knew ye...He was dealt to the Dodgers, while minor league 2B Tyler Kuhn was just dealt to the Diamondbacks. Both trades went under the radar.

Cubbiegirl and I told the same joke...wacka, wacka!

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.