Apparently, Akinori Iwamura EXCELLED in run-producing positions in the lineup
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008I apologize in advance if this is a short post today; I’ve got an errand I need to run this morning, so my time is limited.
I know that some of you don’t like when I pick apart the Bill Chastain mailbag on the Rays’ official site, but sometimes I just can’t help it. Keep in mind that it has NOTHING to do with Chastain and everything to do with the silly questions he gets and the equally silly answers he is forced to give because of his role as glorified PR person while writing for MLB.com. I don’t blame him in the slightest, but I do think it’s hilarious that people actually take the time to write some of this stuff.
So, in the latest mailbag, we got the following gem of a question:
Given that the Rays have had problems with the leadoff spot in the lineup, wouldn’t a guy such as Jason Bartlett be a candidate? He can steal a base, has a decent eye and, more importantly, such a move would allow Akinori Iwamura to return to a run-producing position where he really excelled prior to his injury last season. That would also allow for additional speed in the mid-to-latter stages of the order, especially if Rocco Baldelli is in the everyday mix.
– Myke M., Bradenton, Fla.
Uhhh… what? “Where he really excelled prior to his injury last season”? Does anyone have baseball-reference handy, because something about that just doesn’t seem quite right?
Oh, wait, here it is… I guess that if Myke is talking simply about WHERE Aki hit in the lineup, then the 84 plate appearances he had in the 6 and 7 spots look pretty good. Except when you look at what he did when he actually had a chance to drive people in. In the ol’ RISP category - whether you like it or not - there’s no denying that Iwamura was AWFUL. He had an OPS of .508 with guys in position to be knocked home. Compare that to an .839 OPS when he was leading off an inning.
Let me pull out my calculator here… okay, yeah, .839 IS still much higher than .508. I thought maybe I was mistaken on that one. But you know what, let’s put Aki in a “run-scoring” spot anyways. Myke says it’s okay. Jason Bartlett and his career .738 OPS when leading off an inning would be a better choice, anyways.
For his part, Bill Chastain did TRY to kind of correct the guy on his mistake, tossing out season-long OBP stats, which I guess is a step in the right direction. I still like my argument better.
Right now, it looks like Iwamura is going to be the leadoff man, but I would not rule out your suggestion. With the Twins in 2007, Bartlett had an on-base percentage of .339 with 50 walks in 510 at-bats, while Iwamura had a .359 OBP with 58 walks in 491 at-bats. The biggest difference between the two comes in strikeouts. Bartlett struck out 43 times compared to Iwamura’s 114.
I know some of you hate when I do this. It’s kind of like going one-on-one with a Special Olympian, but this week I just couldn’t help it. Why is that? Because it proves the point that I always try to make; the Rays could make ALL of the right moves, and there would still be people (see Exhibit A, Myke from Bradenton) who don’t get it. Lots of you have wondered out loud what it would take for “new” Rays management (the group isn’t all that new anymore, by the way) to stop being called to task for the mistakes of those who came before them. Here’s the proof that it’ll take a whole lot more than making moves to do that. It’s going to take wins - and lots of them - to erase those past failures. Is it right? Probably not, since the Sternberg-Friedman group has done a fantastic job to this point. But it’s just the way it is. Until this team can win, many people will think that stupid moves like batting Iwamura in the middle of an order that features Carlos Pena, B.J. Upton, Cliff Floyd, Rocco Baldelli, and Evan Longoria would be good for the team, since they obviously know better than management.
