So far, Elian Herrera is making Dodger history

On June 16, 2012

Having a great first season in the majors while in your mid-20s is a rare thing. Sure, there are late bloomers – Paul Lo Duca and Maury Wills immediately come to mind – but most of those late bloomers need a cup of coffee or four before they make a noteworthy impact.

In fact, in the 55 seasons of the Los Angeles Dodgers, only 19 players have notched at least 100 plate appearances in their first season after turning 24. And of those 19 players, so far, Elian Herrera (who added two doubles and three RBI Friday to his magical 2012) has a higher on-base percentage and adjusted OPS than any of them.

Rk	Player	OPS+	PA	Year	Age	G	HR	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
1	Elian Herrera	118	115	2012	27	29	0	3	1	.395	.388	.782
2	Andre Ethier	113	441	2006	24	126	11	5	5	.365	.477	.842
3	Dick Gray	106	221	1958	26	58	9	1	1	.327	.472	.799
4	Norm Larker	102	291	1958	27	99	4	1	1	.352	.427	.779
5	Ted Sizemore	94	650	1969	24	159	4	5	5	.328	.342	.670
6	Mickey Hatcher	90	102	1979	24	33	1	1	3	.327	.366	.692
7	Wes Parker	87	240	1964	24	124	3	5	4	.303	.341	.644
8	Oscar Robles	86	399	2005	29	110	5	0	8	.332	.368	.700
9	Jack Fimple	83	167	1983	24	54	2	1	0	.300	.358	.658
10	Lee Lacy	80	266	1972	24	60	0	5	3	.312	.313	.625
11	Chad Fonville	75	338	1995	24	88	0	20	5	.328	.302	.630
12	Jason Repko	74	301	2005	24	129	8	5	0	.281	.384	.665
13	Eric Young	69	144	1992	25	49	1	6	1	.300	.288	.588
14	Henry Rodriguez	66	156	1992	24	53	3	0	0	.258	.329	.587
15	Justin Sellers	63	139	2011	25	36	1	1	0	.283	.301	.583
16	Tracy Woodson	62	148	1987	24	53	1	1	1	.284	.324	.607
17	Larry Burright	60	276	1962	24	115	4	4	3	.264	.317	.581
18	Mike Ramsey	57	138	1987	26	48	0	2	4	.287	.296	.583
19	Maury Wills	55	258	1959	26	83	0	7	3	.298	.298	.596

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used. Generated 6/16/2012.

It’s not as if he can claim a better first season than Andre Ethier had in 2006, for example, but it’s still pretty amazing. In fact, even if you eliminate the age component, Herrera still has the fifth-best season in adjusted OPS for a Dodger in his first season, and second-best OBP.

Rk	Player	OPS+	PA	Year	Age	G	HR	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
1	Bill Sudakis	165	102	1968	22	24	3	1	0	.382	.471	.854
2	Willy Aybar	140	105	2005	22	26	1	3	1	.448	.453	.901
3	James Loney	125	111	2006	22	48	4	1	0	.342	.559	.901
4	Steve Yeager	124	124	1972	23	35	4	0	0	.374	.406	.780
5	Elian Herrera	118	115	2012	27	29	0	3	1	.395	.388	.782
6	Andre Ethier	113	441	2006	24	126	11	5	5	.365	.477	.842
7	Jim Lefebvre	106	631	1965	23	157	12	3	5	.337	.369	.706
8	Dick Gray	106	221	1958	26	58	9	1	1	.327	.472	.799
9	Jerry Sands	102	227	2011	23	61	4	3	3	.338	.389	.727
10	Norm Larker	102	291	1958	27	99	4	1	1	.352	.427	.779
11	Russell Martin	101	468	2006	23	121	10	10	5	.355	.436	.792
12	Ted Sizemore	94	650	1969	24	159	4	5	5	.328	.342	.670
13	Blake DeWitt	93	421	2008	22	117	9	3	0	.344	.383	.728
14	Dee Gordon	92	233	2011	23	56	0	24	7	.325	.362	.686
15	Todd Hollandsworth	91	115	1995	22	41	5	2	1	.304	.398	.702
16	Steve Sax	91	127	1981	21	31	2	5	7	.317	.345	.662
17	Mickey Hatcher	90	102	1979	24	33	1	1	3	.327	.366	.692
18	Wes Parker	87	240	1964	24	124	3	5	4	.303	.341	.644
19	Oscar Robles	86	399	2005	29	110	5	0	8	.332	.368	.700
20	Bill Russell	86	238	1969	20	98	5	4	1	.301	.344	.645
21	Matt Kemp	85	166	2006	21	52	7	6	0	.289	.448	.737
22	Jack Fimple	83	167	1983	24	54	2	1	0	.300	.358	.658
23	Tony Abreu	82	178	2007	22	59	2	0	0	.309	.404	.713
24	Mike Scioscia	81	152	1980	21	54	1	1	0	.313	.328	.641
25	Henry Cruz	81	101	1975	23	53	0	1	1	.317	.319	.636
Rk	Player	OPS+	PA	Year	Age	G	HR	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
26	Nate Oliver	81	178	1963	22	65	1	3	4	.298	.307	.605
27	Mariano Duncan	80	620	1985	22	142	6	38	8	.293	.340	.633
28	Lee Lacy	80	266	1972	24	60	0	5	3	.312	.313	.625
29	Andy LaRoche	78	115	2007	23	35	1	2	1	.365	.312	.677
30	Chad Fonville	75	338	1995	24	88	0	20	5	.328	.302	.630
31	Jason Repko	74	301	2005	24	129	8	5	0	.281	.384	.665
32	Franklin Stubbs	74	245	1984	23	87	8	2	2	.273	.341	.614
33	Adrian Beltre	73	214	1998	19	77	7	3	1	.278	.369	.648
34	Billy Ashley	69	100	1992	21	29	2	0	0	.260	.337	.597
35	Eric Young	69	144	1992	25	49	1	6	1	.300	.288	.588
36	Henry Rodriguez	66	156	1992	24	53	3	0	0	.258	.329	.587
37	Jeff Hamilton	66	151	1986	22	71	5	0	0	.232	.361	.592
38	Justin Sellers	63	139	2011	25	36	1	1	0	.283	.301	.583
39	Tracy Woodson	62	148	1987	24	53	1	1	1	.284	.324	.607
40	Jim Fairey	61	166	1968	23	99	1	1	1	.241	.276	.517
41	Larry Burright	60	276	1962	24	115	4	4	3	.264	.317	.581
42	Mike Ramsey	57	138	1987	26	48	0	2	4	.287	.296	.583
43	Maury Wills	55	258	1959	26	83	0	7	3	.298	.298	.596
44	Dave Anderson	41	131	1983	22	61	1	6	3	.244	.261	.505

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used. Generated 6/16/2012.

Using Wins Above Replacement, a cumulative stat as measured by Baseball-Reference.com, Herrera is already the Dodgers’ 20th-best first-year major-leaguer … with room to climb.

Rk	Player	WAR/pos	PA	Year	Age	G	HR	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
1	Jim Lefebvre	4.2	631	1965	23	157	12	3	5	.337	.369	.706
2	Ted Sizemore	4.0	650	1969	24	159	4	5	5	.328	.342	.670
3	Andre Ethier	2.2	441	2006	24	126	11	5	5	.365	.477	.842
4	Russell Martin	1.9	468	2006	23	121	10	10	5	.355	.436	.792
5	Bill Russell	1.7	238	1969	20	98	5	4	1	.301	.344	.645
6	Mariano Duncan	1.5	620	1985	22	142	6	38	8	.293	.340	.633
7	Blake DeWitt	1.4	421	2008	22	117	9	3	0	.344	.383	.728
8	Lee Lacy	1.4	266	1972	24	60	0	5	3	.312	.313	.625
9	Bill Sudakis	1.2	102	1968	22	24	3	1	0	.382	.471	.854
10	Steve Yeager	1.0	124	1972	23	35	4	0	0	.374	.406	.780
11	Dick Gray	1.0	221	1958	26	58	9	1	1	.327	.472	.799
12	Tony Abreu	0.9	178	2007	22	59	2	0	0	.309	.404	.713
13	James Loney	0.9	111	2006	22	48	4	1	0	.342	.559	.901
14	Willy Aybar	0.9	105	2005	22	26	1	3	1	.448	.453	.901
15	Chad Fonville	0.9	338	1995	24	88	0	20	5	.328	.302	.630
16	Norm Larker	0.9	291	1958	27	99	4	1	1	.352	.427	.779
17	Justin Sellers	0.8	139	2011	25	36	1	1	0	.283	.301	.583
18	Jack Fimple	0.7	167	1983	24	54	2	1	0	.300	.358	.658
19	Wes Parker	0.7	240	1964	24	124	3	5	4	.303	.341	.644
20	Elian Herrera	0.6	115	2012	27	29	0	3	1	.395	.388	.782
21	Dee Gordon	0.6	233	2011	23	56	0	24	7	.325	.362	.686
22	Steve Sax	0.6	127	1981	21	31	2	5	7	.317	.345	.662
23	Mike Scioscia	0.4	152	1980	21	54	1	1	0	.313	.328	.641
24	Mickey Hatcher	0.4	102	1979	24	33	1	1	3	.327	.366	.692
25	Oscar Robles	0.3	399	2005	29	110	5	0	8	.332	.368	.700
Rk	Player	WAR/pos	PA	Year	Age	G	HR	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
26	Jerry Sands	0.1	227	2011	23	61	4	3	3	.338	.389	.727
27	Andy LaRoche	0.1	115	2007	23	35	1	2	1	.365	.312	.677
28	Adrian Beltre	0.1	214	1998	19	77	7	3	1	.278	.369	.648
29	Nate Oliver	0.0	178	1963	22	65	1	3	4	.298	.307	.605

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used. Generated 6/16/2012.

This won’t guarantee future stardom – several of these players are balloons that inflated quickly and then popped. It’s not like Dick Gray carved out a legendary career But it is a measure of just how valuable Herrera has been to this point. I can’t think of a bigger surprise for the Dodgers in 2012.

Elian Herrera

58 Comments

foul tip

Cliff Corcoran thinks Ethier overpaid, based largely on Jones’ contract.

Mentions team payroll limitations, which seems based more on previous times than now, when owners have far deeper pockets–if they’ll dig into them.

Based on the following, we may see some young pitchers traded for bats.

“They also did so (signed Ethier) because they are a team with very little long-term offensive potential.”

“Looking over Kevin Goldstein’s list of the organization’s top 20 prospects coming into the season, the top six men are pitchers and none of the hitters who follow them project as stars.”

http://mlb.si.com/2012/06/12/dodgers-make-their-move-and-its-an-overpay-for-ethier/?sct=mlb_bf2_a6

June 16, 2012
- Anonymous
  
  The fact is, there will be no way to know whether Ethier has been overpaid or not until after a few years from now.
  Who will be more overpaid, Ethier or Puljols? I’ll bet there will be many players in MLB who are more overpaid than Ethier when all is said and done.
  
  June 16, 2012
  - Anonymous
    
    I hate to harp on this point on an Elian Herrera post, but no, you don’t have to wait a few years to see whether Ethier is overpaid. Only way to “justify” the Ethier-signing, it seems, is to claim some marketing premium Ethier brings to the Dodgers (and to no other team). Well, that also means no other teams besides the Dodgers would have paid him that premium, so why jump the gun and give him 5 years in June?
    
    Comparing Ethier to Pujols is just crazyness. It takes about 4 Ethiers to equal one Pujols.
    
    June 16, 2012
    - Anonymous
      
      Oh – so you already know how Ethier is going to perform over the length of his contract? No – the only way we will know how much Ethier is going to be overpaid is by comparing his performance during the years of his contract with the performance of players who made equal to (and more than) Ethier over the same span. And I will guarantee you that there will be many players more overpaid than Ethier when all is said and done – including Pujols.
      
      June 16, 2012
    - Anonymous
      
      If one Pujols is equal to four Ethiers, by your standards Ethier should take at least a 50 percent pay cut to re-sign with the Dodgers.
      
      June 16, 2012
      - Anonymous
        
        Yes, he should’ve signed for Cuddyer or Willingham money. He’s not an elite hitter, never has been.
        
        June 16, 2012
  - Anonymous
    
    >> Who will be more overpaid, Ethier or Pujols?
    .
    In which year? You have to keep in mind that, when a contract like Pujols’s is signed, the team knows going in that it’s extremely unlikely that he’ll be worth $28-30 million/year when he gets to his age 39-41 seasons. Those years are included in the contract, at that price, because that’s what it took to get him to sign. The assumption is that he will be extremely overpaid in those later years of the contract, but the hope is that he will be extremely underpaid in the early years of the contract. (He’s “only” making $12 and $16 million in 2012-2013, but bumps up to $23 million in 2014 at age 34.) And one of the really good things for the Dodgers in the Ethier contract is that they didn’t have to overpay Ethier for his age 37+ seasons in order to sign him.
    .
    One other aspect of any contract is marketing – the ability to make a star the “face of the team” and thereby draw fans to the stadium. (IOW, the economic benefit he brings to the team, rather than strictly the individual’s and the team’s performance on the field.) It’s difficult to assess this, partly because there’s no way to measure it and partly because it’s impossible to know how successful the entire team would have been with someone else instead. It’s a bit easier with a star starting pitcher, for whom you can check attendance and see that he draws so many thousand fans more per game than when anybody else is pitching.
    
    June 16, 2012
    - Anonymous
      
      Regardless, provided the money is there, I think I take Pujols contract over Ethier contract 100 times out of 100. Sure Pujols will decline and be a shell of himself when he’s 40 years old, but he’s Albert Pujols. Ethier belongs with Swisher and Willingham, whereas Pujols keeps company with guys like Bonds and Ruth. I get that big market teams sometimes overpay, but it’s profoundly disappointing and anticlimactic that our overpay is so uninspiring.
      
      It’s difficult to assess the impact of individual players on marketing, but I think it’s fair to assume that no one goes to the games to watch Ethier, and no one will stop coming just because Ethier is replaced by Swisher.
      
      June 16, 2012
      - Anonymous
        
        By the way, St. Louis is 3rd in the league in attendance right now. Attendance is up by 4000 per game from last season. The idea that Ethier was key to Dodgers’ credibility and market-presence is just…. it doesn’t work.
        
        June 16, 2012
      - Jason Ungar
        
        Just watch the game and check the stands. Ethier is a very popular jersey. More than Kemp even. The thing is to me is that the Ethier contract sends a great message to the organization, they lock up one of the better hitters they could have gotten on the FA market on a team desperate for hitters and we can still get others. I think it keeps the ball rolling in a positive direction, no distractions and I think it’s an underpay in that if he went to FA someone would have paid him more.
        
        June 16, 2012
      - Anonymous
        
        >> they lock up one of the better hitters they could have gotten on the FA market
        
        …without having to sign him to his age 36-41 seasons like any good free agent will receive. Great move by the Dodgers!
        
        June 16, 2012
      - Jason Ungar
        
        This is not true. Ethier has a huge fan base…
        
        June 16, 2012
      - Anonymous
        
        I don’t understand how anyone can compare Ethier – who is an above-average hitter, a darn good fielder, and an All-Star with a .294 career batting average – to Josh Willingham, who is an aging below-average outfielder with a .263 career batting average.
        
        June 16, 2012
      - Anonymous
        
        Because batting average is one of the worst stats you can use to evaluate a hitter.
        
        June 16, 2012
      - Anonymous
        
        @TiensyGohan:disqus Maybe career batting average is not an adequate stat to evaluate a hitter, but then, that’s will go even more in Andre’s favor. How many walk-off and late innings homers/heroics do you recall hit by Andre? He, we got one recently. And then the Dodgers’ factor. How many MLB games has Andre has played for another team besides the Dodgers? None. And yes, @nsxtasy:disqus You’re absolutely correct, Josh Willingham is nothing special, that why he is earning 7m and have played for 4 teams @ age 33, menwhile the ‘overpaid” recently extended Andre Ethier is making spectacular plays in fathers’day, just ask CCapuano. I think the ones overpaying are really other teams, not the Dodgers. And finally I will take Andre Ethier & Cole Hamels over Pujols!!
        
        June 18, 2012
- Anonymous
  
  We can be pretty sure than Elián Herrera is not overpaid.
  
  June 16, 2012
foul tip

Maybe a few smiles from the over-the-hill cougar dept–

Foul tip into a local store late this week a few minutes before closing. Only customer there. Rather weathered clerk, a lady long in tooth foul tip estimates at 70+, quickly announces she is going to lock the door. But says FT doesn’t have to be in a hurry to leave.

“But don’t worry. I don’t want a man. Not another one at least.” These words, spoken as she locked it, will stay with foul tip a while.

It crossed foul tip’s mind to wonder how she got her first man…and what may have become of him, or if he might be locked up somewhere. Foul tip thinks he really may not want to know those answers. He does not ask.

She did unlock unlock the door–after some small talk which foul tip carefully keeps neutral–and let FT out with his $2 purchase. Foul tip was not greatly worried, especially since he’s quite a bit bigger than clerk. OTOH, she was the one with the key…and who knows what else.

Just to be sure, future FT visits to this store will be well before closing time.

It comes to foul tip to muse on the old saying that the women all get prettier at closing time. And to wonder…

June 16, 2012
- Onlyatriple
  
  what happened to that DT guy who did those funny third person comments for a while, a year or two ago…Are you still here under another name?
  
  June 16, 2012
- Anonymous
  
  Why does FT talk in the third person? An homage to Rickey Henderson, perhaps?
  
  June 17, 2012
Howard Kulzer

Got a chance to see Albuquerque play the Iowa Cubs last night. A good game for the Aussie Oeltjen 2-3 with a walk and Luis Cruz who drove in two runs with a double in the 8th. Stephen Fife did well with his 6 innings and the Isotopes took the game 4-3.

June 16, 2012
- Howard Kulzer
  
  I should also mention that the losing picture for the I-Cubs was one Mike MacDougal. Did the Cubs pick him up after the Dodgers released him?
  
  June 16, 2012
  - Anonymous
    
    Yes, he was signed by the Cubs to a minor-league deal four days after his release by the Dodgers on May 11.
    
    June 16, 2012
    - Anonymous
      
      Just for fun, I am willing to bet that MacDougal does not voluntarily retire which is what Miles did. The Dodgers did not want him to leave although they did not care very much.
      
      June 16, 2012
    - Anonymous
      
      Do you mean Henry’s?
      
      June 16, 2012
Anonymous

Loney’s slugging % in 125 PA’s his rookie season jumps out of those columns at me.

June 16, 2012
- foul tip
  
  The thing that jumps out at me about Loney isn’t from these charts. It’s the number of homers in one month—7, I think–that he turned in early in his career.
  
  No one was going to keep up that pace. But I’ve often wondered what happened to that power and that hitter.
  
  Some of it probably was pitchers adjusting. A lot more of it may have been Loney’s constant tinkering with his swing, his listening to too many people. Didn’t he hit something like .390 at AAA?
  
  The question now is will he hit 7 all year, let alone in one month.
  
  June 16, 2012
  - Anonymous
    
    He hit .380 in 2006, his first year at Vegas in AAA. There was even more cause for optimism when he hit .331 with 15 HR in 96 games with the Dodgers in 2007. But nobody knew at the time that he would never equal either of those figures again on a full-season basis.
    
    June 16, 2012
Anonymous

>> only 19 players have notched at least 100 plate appearances in their first season after turning 24. And of those eight players, so far,
.
I think you mean, “of those NINETEEN players, so far…” :)

June 16, 2012
Anonymous

Herrera’s a pleasant surprise, but any discussion of his performance for us so far should include the fact that he’s carrying a .400 BABIP. Still, even with .300 BABIP he would have like .330 OBP, which is more than you can ask for from an emergency AAA call-up.

June 16, 2012
- Anonymous
  
  Another fun Adam Kennedy fact posted by Braunstein at ESPNLA: The Dodgers are 18-4 in games when Kennedy is a starter, including 6-0 when he starts at second base.
  
  June 16, 2012
  - Anonymous
    
    Give that man a 5 year contract!
    
    June 16, 2012
Anonymous

Looks like Tony Jackson has some kind of obsession with Alexei Ramirez. In his two articles following last night’s game, three times he stated that Ramirez hit a home run. All three references were to home runs that were actually hit by Alex Rios. Right team, right initials, wrong guy. :)

June 16, 2012
Anonymous

Don’t forget, for those who don’t pay for subscriptions to PrimeTicket or MLB Extra Innings, tonight’s game will be on the MLB Network.

June 16, 2012
Adam Luther

Whatever happened to…Jack Fimple and Chad Fonville…

June 16, 2012
- Anonymous
  
  Fimple was a favorite of mine, even though his ceiling was that of a short-term backup catcher. Fonville looked for a moment like a keeper, which might be a cautionary tale against putting too great a hope in Elián, who appears to have similar tools. Still, you can’t argue with the results so far.
  
  June 16, 2012
Jon Weisman

Fonville was a guy getting by on speed and the bunting ability you wished Gordon had. Herrera, if nothing else, has the appearance of a ball player.

Fimple was a folk hero, whom I’ll always remember fondly.

June 16, 2012
- Anonymous
  
  Don’t misunderstand me, I’m delighted with Herrera and think he’s earned the right to play himself out of the lineup, but there are quite a few other names on that list for whom we had great expectations.
  
  Fimple was indeed a folk hero, though I’m not quite sure why.
  
  June 16, 2012
  - Anonymous
    
    Fimple was a folk hero for various reasons:
    1) his name sounded funny
    2) he came up when the Dodgers had lost both starting catchers to injury
    3) when he came up, the Dodgers started to come back on the Braves and eventually won the NL West.
    
    The Dodgers were 6 games out of first when he came up and they won the division by 3 games. So they made up 9 games on the Braves. The Dodgers were 28-19 when Fimple started.
    
    June 16, 2012
    - Anonymous
      
      Thanks for the summary, timmer, my memory isn’t what it used to be.
      
      June 16, 2012
KT

As I was saying last night I think Herrera is the current months MVP

June 16, 2012
Anonymous

I wish Herrera would get some starts at SS

June 16, 2012
Anonymous

Didnt he mostly play SS in AAA this year? Wonder why he hasnt even played at SS yet with Dodgers. Maybe they think he cant handle it in the bigs? But sounded like he is a pretty good defensive player so seems he could handle it.

June 16, 2012
- Anonymous
  
  He played 34 games at SS last year, had 9 errors. So yes, he would be an improvement over Dee.
  
  June 16, 2012
  - Anonymous
    
    I guess he hasnt played as much SS in the minors as I thought and hasnt played it well when he has either it seems.
    
    June 16, 2012
- Anonymous
  
  No, he played in only 4 games at ss this season handling 12 chances. The AAA ss is Luis Cruz.
  Herrera was in AA last year in reply to TG.
  
  June 16, 2012
Anonymous

“Most of his errors came some time ago, and I think his defense has been much better lately”
This is a quote from WBB, a poster I respect on Dee Gordon. I did ask myself, how does he know that? since I don’t know it. I tried to find stats, by month for example, but could not; so, I decided to go though game by game. I stopped to post this when I found that Dee had made errors on June 15, 13, 12. I was going backwards because of the claim which now seems false, but; I will continue.

June 16, 2012
- Anonymous
  
  So my impressions were more or less correct. I think many of Gordon’s errors, in any event, stem from faulty judgment rather than lack of physical ability. With experience, those sorts of errors should diminish.
  
  June 16, 2012
  - Anonymous
    
    Why do you think Gordon will improve on his errors? He never has. Look at his pro-ball record:
    2009 – 34 Errors / 127 GS 2010 – 37 Errors / 133 GS2011 – 29 Errors / 127 GS2012 – 13 Errors / 59 GSHe’s always hovered around .940-.950 fielding.
    
    June 16, 2012
    - Anonymous
      
      Because he’s a young player who’s still learning.
      
      June 16, 2012
      - Anonymous
        
        Or not learning, if we go by his actual track-record. I’m just honestly baffled as to why people think Gordon will improve just because he’s young.
        
        June 16, 2012
Howard Kulzer

My favorite person on this list is Bill Sudakis. There was not much to celebrate Dodger wise in ’68-69 but “Spud” made those two seasons interesting.

June 16, 2012
Anonymous

On fielding, Herrera, and WAR:
Rfield is a component of WAR ( how that all works I don’t know) Rfield is the # of runs a player is better or worse than the average player in fielding. Dodger worst in Rfield is Gordon with -11, next is Kemp with -6, then Herrera with -4. If Herrera was, according to these calculations, average, his WAR would jump,I think possibly, to 1.

June 16, 2012
foul tip

Jon posted a link the other day of the top game scores for pitchers since 1918–which Matt Cain joined this week, tho his doesn’t seem to appear yet.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/share.cgi?id=jfm2N

A few things off those stats strike me. [Full disclosure: sometimes odd things strike me. Sometimes I strike back.] ;-])

There are 9 games listed, all scores from 105 down to100. Nolan Ryan has 3 of them. He also has 7 of the total 13 BB issued over the 9. Which is kinda fitting. Koufax threw the fewest pitches, 113, followed by Unit with 117.

Pitcher # 4 on this list is way far from a household name. In fact, it’s a name you have to stretch to remember….Brandon Morrow.

Pitchers allowed a total of 4 hits over these 9 games. They struck out 146, an average of over 16 per game.

June 16, 2012
foul tip

In that same vein, wonder what Harvey Haddix’s game score was for the game in which he pitched 12 perfect innings?

It’s widely regarded as the greatest game ever pitched and one of baseball’s 50 greatest moments. Haddix lost 1-0 on an unearned run in the 13th. His Pirates could not score despite 12 hits.

“Didn’t anyone else ever lose a thirteen inning shutout?”– Harvey Haddix

Opposing and winning pitcher Lew Burdette also went the distance. He struck out 2. Yes. Two.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/boxscore/05261959.shtml

June 16, 2012
Anonymous

I’m not trying to be cute– and I haven’t red all the comments carefully–but I haven’t seen AJ Ellis in the lists above. Is it because he isn’t having that good a year, or because he didn’t hit the bigs until his 30’s. Really just curious.

June 16, 2012
- Jon Weisman
  
  This isn’t his first year.
  
  June 16, 2012
Jon Weisman

TiensyGohan –
Many young ballplayers improve once they have no more levels to climb and begin mastering more skills – or in particular in this case, judgment.

I’m not sure what Gordon’s ceiling is, but I don’t know why one should assume he’d completely stagnate. He might not ultimately make it, but the theory behind him improving doesn’t seem baffling.

Gordon is 24 years old. At age 24 (in 2009), Elian Herrera spent the year in A ball. Why would Herrera be able to improve but Gordon not?

June 16, 2012
Jon Weisman

NPUT

June 16, 2012

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Jon Weisman's outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball and life

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