The A-Rod Protection Myth
Posted by Steve L. on July 9th, 2009 · Comments (8)
In his last 108 Plate Appearances, from June 13th through July 8th, Mark Teixeira has eight RBI.
During this same time period, June 13th through July 8th, Alex Rodriguez has come to the plate 90 times and has posted an OBA of .444 and a SLG% of .537 – yes, that’s an OPS of .982 (which, if you don’t know, is outstanding).
So much for that theory where many wanted to credit the return of A-Rod as the reason why Teixeira had 29 RBI in 21 games from May 9th through May 31st.
I also remember reading somewhere (I think at RAB) yesterday that Tex has actually seen fewer fastballs since A-Rod returned to the line-up, not more. So not only is it a fallacy that Tex needs A-Rod’s protection to do well, but pitchers don’t pitch particularly differently to Tex with A-Rod there. Again, I could be wrong, but I believe I read this somewhere yesterday.
@ thenewguy:
ya it was rab, they did a study on it a while back it was good stuff.
Part of the problem with a study like that is that it doesn’t take into account pitches faced and what they throw (and don’t).
For example, I could say that Tex saw 90% fastballs when the Yankees played the Red Sox and then the next time NY faced Boston he only saw fastballs 50% of the time. Does it mean Boston is pitching him different? No, it means that Tim Wakefield didn’t pitch in the first series and he did pitch in the second series which was only a two-game set.
Batters see pitches that pitchers can throw – not what teams think can get him out.
Batter A cannot hit a curve to save his life. Yet, when Mo Rivera faces him, he’s not going to see a curve. He’s going to get cut fastballs. So, does that mean the Yankees think that the batter now can hit a curve? No, of course not…
I dunno. Tex was always a slow starter, so it came as no surprise to me that he started slow in NY. His history shows that he gets better as the months go along, so I attributed his hot streak to that, not the return of Rodriguez.
Well, FWIW, Tex does have that great Swisher like quality of “Even when he sucks, he still gets his walks.”
When Tex is slumping, he sucks at a much higher level of suckitude than Swisher.
It’s the mark of a great player.
And then there’s that glove thingy on his hand to consider when they’re not at bat.
Hmmm…maybe that should be a “lower level of suckitude”, and a higher “relative level of suckitude”.
[...] …not to be confused with the A-Rod Protection Myth… [...]