When I compared Royals hitters to above and below-average spin rates a couple weeks ago, O'Hearn did pop up as a guy who was much better against below-average. The sample was pretty small. So I just wanted to take a peek at all fastballs with spins above and below 2,300 just to see if there's something there.
vs. fastballs with 2,300 rpm spin or more: .204 average, .420 SLG, 27.1% K
vs. fastballs with 2,299 rpm spin or less: .263 average, .467 SLG, 16.8% K
That's super fast and dirty, so not the best analysis, but it does add up with what you're saying, though not necessarily targeting the artificial adds like you mentioned. So definitely an interesting theory that has some legs.
Interesting--thanks. I suspect Benintendi could be another candidate to benefit from the sticky-stuff crackdown when he returns, given that he's also a lefty who has struggled to handle (mostly high) fastballs.
I wonder if, even balancing for the extremes of sample-size, we're seeing the far end of the bell-curve when it comes to this phenomenon, with Schwarber's god-tier streak.
Good lord, what Schwarber is doing is just unreal. He's honestly what I think the Royals are hoping for with Soler. Schwarber was hitting .189/.274/.347 on May 12. Obviously he started hitting a little more then, but really caught fire when they moved him up to the top and he's just on this insane run now. I don't see it happening with Soler at this point, but I wouldn't be surprised if they have dreams of it.
Its time to blow it up...... The Royals don't gave enough starting pitching to compete. Its time to cut bait on a number of veterans like Soler and Wade Davis and find out if guys like Lovelady, Olivares, etc have anything. I'd also be ok with Pratto and Witt getting service time this year. If I'm Dayton Moore, I'm going into sell mode, tho I dont think there is much on the roster to bring anything of real value back, with Benintendi injured, Duffy coming off injury, Minor being fairly ineffective...... and I dont see the point of trading young players under long term control like Brentz. So I guess its more like DFA mode.... Santana may be the only piece worth moving. I'd also like to see Dylan Coleman get MLB action this year. The injuries are so disappointing..... Balanos, Rivera.... you want to see if these guys can be contributors and they come up and go straight to the injured list. Definitely a rough stretch.
I don't really see a need to get Pratto and Witt up just yet. They have 204 and 209 PA in AA respectively. What's the rush just to put them on the stink of a losing team? Let them get some ABs in AAA and see some guys who might be closer to big league breaking balls than they're getting in AA. I'm not saying don't bring them up at all this year, but no need right now. Also, don't forget that September rosters are only 28 and not 40 now, so that limits the possibilities some.
I'd move anything that isn't bolted down, like I wrote about on Monday. And yeah, I'm good with Coleman getting a shot sometime soon. He has to be added to the 40-man after the season anyway.
Id like to see Pratto at AAA now with Pasquantino taking his spot at NWA. Vinnie has been one of the best high A hitters and it will be interesting to see if that continues at AA. I'm questioning at this point whether the competition level at AA is better than AAA. I think Pratto and Witt need to be in the starting lineup in 2022. Whatever it takes to get them ready for that.....
I agree....Soler and Davis should go. As well as the Pitching coach Cal Eldred. Not sure if you can blame the fiasco in pitching on him but it may be part of the problem. But for the past 3 years pitching has been horrible. The hitting coach as well Terry Bradshaw may need to be given his papers. Royals have one of the highest Runners Left in Scoring Position in the major league. It seems the collective batting average goes down when runners are on base.
This is pretty baseless speculation, but:
1) Maybe some hitters are uniquely vulnerable to pitches with artificially inflated spin-rate.
2) Maybe O'Hearn is one such hitter.
When I compared Royals hitters to above and below-average spin rates a couple weeks ago, O'Hearn did pop up as a guy who was much better against below-average. The sample was pretty small. So I just wanted to take a peek at all fastballs with spins above and below 2,300 just to see if there's something there.
vs. fastballs with 2,300 rpm spin or more: .204 average, .420 SLG, 27.1% K
vs. fastballs with 2,299 rpm spin or less: .263 average, .467 SLG, 16.8% K
That's super fast and dirty, so not the best analysis, but it does add up with what you're saying, though not necessarily targeting the artificial adds like you mentioned. So definitely an interesting theory that has some legs.
Interesting--thanks. I suspect Benintendi could be another candidate to benefit from the sticky-stuff crackdown when he returns, given that he's also a lefty who has struggled to handle (mostly high) fastballs.
I wonder if, even balancing for the extremes of sample-size, we're seeing the far end of the bell-curve when it comes to this phenomenon, with Schwarber's god-tier streak.
Good lord, what Schwarber is doing is just unreal. He's honestly what I think the Royals are hoping for with Soler. Schwarber was hitting .189/.274/.347 on May 12. Obviously he started hitting a little more then, but really caught fire when they moved him up to the top and he's just on this insane run now. I don't see it happening with Soler at this point, but I wouldn't be surprised if they have dreams of it.
Its time to blow it up...... The Royals don't gave enough starting pitching to compete. Its time to cut bait on a number of veterans like Soler and Wade Davis and find out if guys like Lovelady, Olivares, etc have anything. I'd also be ok with Pratto and Witt getting service time this year. If I'm Dayton Moore, I'm going into sell mode, tho I dont think there is much on the roster to bring anything of real value back, with Benintendi injured, Duffy coming off injury, Minor being fairly ineffective...... and I dont see the point of trading young players under long term control like Brentz. So I guess its more like DFA mode.... Santana may be the only piece worth moving. I'd also like to see Dylan Coleman get MLB action this year. The injuries are so disappointing..... Balanos, Rivera.... you want to see if these guys can be contributors and they come up and go straight to the injured list. Definitely a rough stretch.
I don't really see a need to get Pratto and Witt up just yet. They have 204 and 209 PA in AA respectively. What's the rush just to put them on the stink of a losing team? Let them get some ABs in AAA and see some guys who might be closer to big league breaking balls than they're getting in AA. I'm not saying don't bring them up at all this year, but no need right now. Also, don't forget that September rosters are only 28 and not 40 now, so that limits the possibilities some.
I'd move anything that isn't bolted down, like I wrote about on Monday. And yeah, I'm good with Coleman getting a shot sometime soon. He has to be added to the 40-man after the season anyway.
Id like to see Pratto at AAA now with Pasquantino taking his spot at NWA. Vinnie has been one of the best high A hitters and it will be interesting to see if that continues at AA. I'm questioning at this point whether the competition level at AA is better than AAA. I think Pratto and Witt need to be in the starting lineup in 2022. Whatever it takes to get them ready for that.....
Totally agree, though with he and Witt making the Futures Game, I imagine they'll both be up to AAA after that.
Now that Tillo has started rehab with the AZL team, when does he have to come off the IL60?
There's no in-season timeline. He just has to be off for the off-season.
I agree....Soler and Davis should go. As well as the Pitching coach Cal Eldred. Not sure if you can blame the fiasco in pitching on him but it may be part of the problem. But for the past 3 years pitching has been horrible. The hitting coach as well Terry Bradshaw may need to be given his papers. Royals have one of the highest Runners Left in Scoring Position in the major league. It seems the collective batting average goes down when runners are on base.
Here are the Royals numbers in various men on situations:
Bases empty: .241/.304/.384
Men on: .248/.310/.396
RISP: .233/.311/.377