Your Texas Rangers are 2015 AL West Champions!

[donaldson79]

Alberto will never be a big league starter.

100% correct.

Have you ever had a worse weekend, sport wise, than this one?

 

[RevSader]

New day new game. Let's close this series out today.

I am already at peace no matter what happens.

 

[romeo212000]

100% correct.

Have you ever had a worse weekend, sport wise, than this one?

'Twas pretty bad, sir.

 

[donaldson79]

What an amazing display we've put on at the plate tonight.

It's worth noting that between Alberto, Elvis and Hamilton they had a total of ten AB. And they saw TWENTY FOUR PITCHES between them. That's ridiculous.

To make matters worse, DeShields and Odor only had 22 pitches in their combined 7 AB.

No matter the pitcher, it's hard to beat anyone when you're letting him off the hook this easily.

From the DMN: Texas is 1-8 in ALDS games at home, going back to 1996 and their playoff debut against the Yankees. The Rangers never beat the Yanks here in four tries, lost both home games to Tampa Bay in 2010 and split the games played here against the Rays in 2011

 

[saddles]

It's worth noting that between Alberto, Elvis and Hamilton they had a total of ten AB. And they saw TWENTY FOUR PITCHES between them. That's ridiculous.

To make matters worse, DeShields and Odor only had 22 pitches in their combined 7 AB.

No matter the pitcher, it's hard to beat anyone when you're letting him off the hook this easily.

From the DMN: Texas is 1-8 in ALDS games at home, going back to 1996 and their playoff debut against the Yankees. The Rangers never beat the Yanks here in four tries, lost both home games to Tampa Bay in 2010 and split the games played here against the Rays in 2011

Over the years this franchise has disappointed in front of very large home crowds many times in the past. Not all of the time mind you, but a significant percentage of the time.

I think the winning percentage over the last 20 years or so in front of very large home crowds is significantly less than the winning percentage in other home games. Especially if you only look at the years where the team has played well and ignore years like last year. At least that is the way it has seemed to me. I first started noticing that in the 90s. I probably first started noticing after we lost the very first game at the new RBIA.

Even the one All Star game here had disappointing results.

 

[saddles]

To me this is very close to a must win game today. I don't want to go back to Toronto with the Blue Jays having all of the momentum. If Beltre can swing a bat he should take Fielder's DH spot today. All hands on deck. Hopefully Hamilton's hit yesterday is a sign that he is about to get hot. We could sure use it.

 

[DT LUNA]

To me this is very close to a must win game today. I don't want to go back to Toronto with the Blue Jays having all of the momentum. If Beltre can swing a bat he should take Fielder's DH spot today. All hands on deck. Hopefully Hamilton's hit yesterday is a sign that he is about to get hot. We could sure use it.

The team should not want to go back either but after last night it's hard to believe. Agree with Adrian. Odor needs to see a few more pitches and quit swinging for the fences. Of course same can be said for DDJ and Alberto. Time to sit Prince and get Adrian in the game. Josh may be getting hot but don't count on it. With a knuckle ball'er going tonight, they will all have to look the ball in carefully. If not, see ya in Toronto.

 

[Tharvot]

Really hope Beltre's back is good to go today. Shoot him up with some magic pain killing injection and lets roll.

 

[saddles]

The team should not want to go back either but after last night it's hard to believe. Agree with Adrian. Odor needs to see a few more pitches and quit swinging for the fences. Of course same can be said for DDJ and Alberto. Time to sit Prince and get Adrian in the game. Josh may be getting hot but don't count on it. With a knuckle ball'er going tonight, they will all have to look the ball in carefully. If not, see ya in Toronto.

I am not as big on how many pitches these guys see as on what they do with the pitches they see. The game where Odor did so great I think he only saw about 2 pitches per plate appearance. If all of our guys could do that on 2 to 3 pitches then I would be all for it. On the other hand if they see 7 pitches and get out then I am not going to be happy that they saw a lot of pitches. There is no wearing out a bullpen in this kind of series so I am not all that concerned with making the opposition throw a lot of pitches unless we are getting on base.

Consider the last 3 games where we faced Keuchel in the regular season. We averaged 4.43, 3.64, and 4.88 pitches per plate appearance in those games. In 2 of those games he handled us very well when he allowed 0 runs in 7 innings and 1 run in 7 innings. In the other game we bashed him for 9 runs in 4.2 innings. It was the game where we bashed him that we saw the fewest pitches per plate appearance.

 

[donaldson79]

Shoot him up with some magic pain killing injection and lets roll.

I have real mixed emotions about this. It could work just fine, we get the win and then he gets to take some time to rest/receive treatment. On the other hand, if he does more damage, then he'll be done for the season.

Frankly, we aren't going very far with Alberto at 3rd, hitting 9th, and not having Beltre's energy/influence in the dugout.

 

[saddles]

This is a very interesting article.

King of irrelevant offensive statistics: pitches per plate appearance

In every game played in Major League Baseball, each and every pitch is logged by several people in various ways to use in a multitude of statistical applications. Some of these stats are more effective at explaining the success – or lack thereof – of a particular player and/or team than others. The amount of correlation between a certain statistic and a player’s and/or team’s winning performances is usually what makes a particular statistic useful. If that is the measuring stick which statistics are held against, then the average number of pitches seen per plate appearance (Pit/PA) could be considered the least relevant stat kept in baseball today.

 

[RevSader]

This is a very interesting article.

King of irrelevant offensive statistics: pitches per plate appearance

In every game played in Major League Baseball, each and every pitch is logged by several people in various ways to use in a multitude of statistical applications. Some of these stats are more effective at explaining the success – or lack thereof – of a particular player and/or team than others. The amount of correlation between a certain statistic and a player’s and/or team’s winning performances is usually what makes a particular statistic useful. If that is the measuring stick which statistics are held against, then the average number of pitches seen per plate appearance (Pit/PA) could be considered the least relevant stat kept in baseball today.

No that would be pitcher's record

 

[donaldson79]

I am not as big on how many pitches these guys see as on what they do with the pitches they see. The game where Odor did so great I think he only saw about 2 pitches per plate appearance. If all of our guys could do that on 2 to 3 pitches then I would be all for it. On the other hand if they see 7 pitches and get out then I am not going to be happy that they saw a lot of pitches. There is no wearing out a bullpen in this kind of series so I am not all that concerned with making the opposition throw a lot of pitches unless we are getting on base.

Consider the last 3 games where we faced Keuchel in the regular season. We averaged 4.43, 3.64, and 4.88 pitches per plate appearance in those games. In 2 of those games he handled us very well when he allowed 0 runs in 7 innings and 1 run in 7 innings. In the other game we bashed him for 9 runs in 4.2 innings. It was the game where we bashed him that we saw the fewest pitches per plate appearance.

Well, those five guys who saw 46 pitches in their 17 AB got 3 hits, scored 1 and got 1 RBI. That's pretty swell in my book.

And I did not insinuate anything about trying to wear out and even get too their BP. My point is, they threw out 5 pitchers yet only accounted for 115 total pitches. We didn't give them an opportunity to make a mistake b/c we swung at damn near everything.

When a guys hot, stay hot and swing away. Screw a bunch of pitches. But one of DeShields best attributes is working the pitcher, and getting on base any way he can. Did you know he scores 49% of the time when he reaches base?

And Alberto has never been hot in his ML career. Don't really expect that to change all that much either.

 

[Tharvot]

I have real mixed emotions about this. It could work just fine, we get the win and then he gets to take some time to rest/receive treatment. On the other hand, if he does more damage, then he'll be done for the season.

Frankly, we aren't going very far with Alberto at 3rd, hitting 9th, and not having Beltre's energy/influence in the dugout.

He supposedly was available in some limited replacement role yesterday...would be great if we could get him back today. Lineup really struggles without his presence. There might be more to his injury than we were initially led to believe.

 

[Tharvot]

This is a very interesting article.

King of irrelevant offensive statistics: pitches per plate appearance

In every game played in Major League Baseball, each and every pitch is logged by several people in various ways to use in a multitude of statistical applications. Some of these stats are more effective at explaining the success – or lack thereof – of a particular player and/or team than others. The amount of correlation between a certain statistic and a player’s and/or team’s winning performances is usually what makes a particular statistic useful. If that is the measuring stick which statistics are held against, then the average number of pitches seen per plate appearance (Pit/PA) could be considered the least relevant stat kept in baseball today.

It's actually quite relevant. If you have a lineup full of guys that work the count and see a number of pitches, then you have a much greater chance of chasing the starter out early. The Boston and New York lineups in the earlier 2000s were great at this.

 

[saddles]

No that would be pitcher's record

I would disagree in that at least a pitcher's wins are a positive outcome. Seeing more pitches is not necessarily a positive outcome and yet it is often viewed that way.

The disparity between Chris Carter and Prince Fielder as shown in the article is not going to happen when looking at number of wins for a pitcher. That is, Carter being best in the category in question while Prince is close to the bottom yet Prince had a much better year. Pitchers in the bottom 5 in wins are not going to be better than someone at the top of the wins list.

The narrow variance talked about in the article doesn't happen in win totals either.

That is not saying win totals are vital at all, but they don't appear to be as meaningless as pitches per plate appearance.

 

[saddles]

It's actually quite relevant. If you have a lineup full of guys that work the count and see a number of pitches, then you have a much greater chance of chasing the starter out early. The Boston and New York lineups in the earlier 2000s were great at this.

Give me a lineup full of guys who swing at strikes and let balls go by any day over one whose chief goal is to build up a pitch count. I would always rather wear a pitcher out than wear him down. If a guy is trying to throw stuff in the dirt and get you to chase then by all means don't swing at it. If he always throws a get ahead fastball on the first pitch to almost every batter then by all means swing at the first pitch. When Kinsler was going good at the plate he was great at first ball hitting even when batting lead off.

 

[saddles]

Well, those five guys who saw 46 pitches in their 17 AB got 3 hits, scored 1 and got 1 RBI. That's pretty swell in my book.

And I did not insinuate anything about trying to wear out and even get too their BP. My point is, they threw out 5 pitchers yet only accounted for 115 total pitches. We didn't give them an opportunity to make a mistake b/c we swung at damn near everything.

When a guys hot, stay hot and swing away. Screw a bunch of pitches. But one of DeShields best attributes is working the pitcher, and getting on base any way he can. Did you know he scores 49% of the time when he reaches base?

And Alberto has never been hot in his ML career. Don't really expect that to change all that much either.

No sir, I didn't say you were trying to insinuate anything.

I am never a fan of swinging at pitches that you can't hit. I am also never a fan of taking pitches just to be taking them.

 

[UK Cowboy]

To me this is very close to a must win game today. I don't want to go back to Toronto with the Blue Jays having all of the momentum. If Beltre can swing a bat he should take Fielder's DH spot today. All hands on deck. Hopefully Hamilton's hit yesterday is a sign that he is about to get hot. We could sure use it.

Fielder might start at 1st, but they aren't taking him out of the lineup

 

[donaldson79]

BELTRE NOT IN RANGERS' LINEUP AGAIN

3B Adrian Beltre is absent from the starting lineup for the third straight game. Beltre injured his back in Game 1 of the ALDS and hasn't played since. Hanser Alberto will once again start in Beltre's place. Texas can advance to the ALCS with a win over the Blue Jays today.