Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2011 20:00:25 GMT -5
Welcome to the second 'Fact or Fiction!'
Participating in this debate are the Rockies and Athletics. Please, if you will, read each question and the following responses and at the end, formulate an opinion on who had the best debate!
Without further adieu...
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1) Fact or Fiction, Fact or Fiction, Carlos Pena's success is the surprise of the season thus far.
Rockies: Fiction: Certainly Pena (and to a larger extent, the Baltimore Orioles) has been a surprise to Major League GM’s with an AL leading 18 home runs and 56 RBI’s. However, Pena’s had productive seasons before (37 dingers in 2010) and scouts have always rated his power highly. Now that he has Matt Weiters getting on base ahead of him and Nolan Reimold and Nick Markakis supporting him in the lineup, it isn’t unexpected that Pena would get some more pitches he could drive.
No, the absolute surprise of the season is 3B Matt Sweeney of the Minnesota Twins. A mildly regarded power-hitting third baseman, Sweeney took the league by storm with six home runs in his first six Major League games. In three weeks, he has 10 long balls and 27 RBI’s. He has a HR/AB ratio of one home run every 7.4 at bats. Next is Ike Davis who has slugged a home run approximately every 13 at bats. All this from an unrewarded minor leaguer making his major league debut. Incredible!
Athletics: Fiction. Pena's success this season is not without precedent. He posted similar numbers over a full season in 2007 and has always been a good hitter. The aberration was the 2011 season which was by far his worst in the majors. That he should bounce back in 2012 should not be a big surprise.
In my opinion the play of Chicago 2B Gordon Beckham and Florida OF Mike Stanton. Beckham's current OPS+ is 53 points higher than his phenomenal sophomore season in 2010 when he put up a 115 OPS+ and had a VORP of 31.6. Just a third of the way through this season he has almost matched his career high in HR and his VORP stands at 30.3. Stanton has already bested his career high in HR (18 in 2011) in only half the number of games played. He has nearly duplicated his RBI output from his rookie season which saw him put up an OPS of .768 and an OPS+ of 108. At present he sits at a 1.048 OPS and a 166 OPS+ with a VORP of 26.8. The only track record Stanton had to support these phenomenal numbers was a 33 game stint in AAA in 2011. At no other level has the youngster even approached the production he is currently putting up.
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2) Fact or Fiction, Marvin Webb is in fact "The Memib" (Most exciting man in baseball)
Rockies: Fact: It would first help to define what makes a player exciting. Pitchers can’t be exciting because they don’t pitch every day and studies have shown that most fans prefer offense to pitching. Contact is exciting because it breeds action. Same with great defense. Speed is exciting. Power can be exciting, but only if combined with contact or speed. Youth is exciting because it’s filled with potential.
With this as a backdrop, we have Marvin Webb, the game’s most exciting player. First of all, only a handful of players strike out less frequently than he does with 94 strikeouts over 916 at bats the past season and a half. He doesn’t strike out much but he’s hit over .300 in each season in the big leagues. He’s having a bit of trouble on the base paths this year, but he stole 43 bases last season and led the league in runs scored. He smashed 14 home runs and drove in 86 RBI’s from the top of the order and is on pace for 30 home runs and 100 RBI’s this year—from the leadoff spot.
Defensively, scouts rave about his corner outfield play. While I haven’t had the chance to watch the replays of any of Webb’s games, based on the fact that Jack Cust can’t go a game in the outfield without making a diving catch, I’m sure Webb is making all sorts of highlight-reel defensive plays which fans love.
Best of all, exciting comes by making plays in crucial situations. Webb has an OPS over .800 this season in close and late situations. He’s the career postseason leader in batting average, doubles, and his third in RBI’s. Throw in his youth—he’s only 24!—his unique circumstance of only playing three games in the minors, the fact that he plays on a talented team which accentuates his skills, and a smug little mustache, and Webb is the Most Exciting Man in Baseball. [/color]
Athletics: Fact. Fiction. Webb is an outstanding young player. He was very good in 2011 and appears to be on his way to being even better in 2012, but "most exciting" seems to be a stretch. An "exciting" player, in terms of a hitter, is a hitter that is heavily involved in creating runs. He's the type of player that, every time he comes to the plate, the crowd is on the edge of its seat because it expects something big to happen. This season, Webb's RC/27 is 7.3, which is good for 55th place in the league. The top three players in this stat are Carlos Gonzalez (13.6), Matt Holiday (13.6), and Hanley Ramirez (12.0). Webb has some growing to do before he can be said to have legitimately earned the nickname.
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3) Fact or Fiction, Someone other than the St. Louis Cardinals will win the NL Central.
Rockies: Fiction: At full strength, the Reds probably come back to take the Central, but with Jay Bruce out for the season, the Reds don’t have the offense to win the division. They’re hitting for power, yes, but the Reds don’t get enough base runners and don’t manufacture runs.
Given that the Cardinals still have a solid rotation (especially if Jaime Garcia begins to turn things around) with two aces, a solid Cliff Lee, and a Ryan Dempster that is pitching out of his mind, the Cards have the starters to carry them through the summer.Their lineup has some holes too, but with the best hitter in the game in Albert Pujolz, plus Matt Holliday and Colby Rasmus finally putting things together to protect Pujolz in the lineup, the Cardinals are playing the best baseball in the Central.
The Cards also get helped out by a wacky interleague schedule which has them playing a series with the Blue Jays, White Sox, and two series against the A’s. The Reds still have series with the Tigers, Twins, and Rangers.
Athletics: Fiction. The NL Central is a mess right now. St. Louis is the only team that can boast being in the top half of the league in hitting and pitching. They are also the victims of a little bad luck playing 2 wins below their pythagorean record. Their only real weakness is their bullpen, which is something that can be improved via trade. Their main competition are the Reds (28-29) and Cubs (26-31). The Reds are a bad hitting team. Their pitching is slightly above average, but as we've learned in Oakland, bad hitting and good pitching isn't a recipe for success. The Cubs are a slightly above average offensive team and a horrible pitching team. Decent hitting cannot outscore awful pitching on a consistent basis. St. Louis will win this division by 10 games or more.
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Participating in this debate are the Rockies and Athletics. Please, if you will, read each question and the following responses and at the end, formulate an opinion on who had the best debate!
Without further adieu...
--
1) Fact or Fiction, Fact or Fiction, Carlos Pena's success is the surprise of the season thus far.
Rockies: Fiction: Certainly Pena (and to a larger extent, the Baltimore Orioles) has been a surprise to Major League GM’s with an AL leading 18 home runs and 56 RBI’s. However, Pena’s had productive seasons before (37 dingers in 2010) and scouts have always rated his power highly. Now that he has Matt Weiters getting on base ahead of him and Nolan Reimold and Nick Markakis supporting him in the lineup, it isn’t unexpected that Pena would get some more pitches he could drive.
No, the absolute surprise of the season is 3B Matt Sweeney of the Minnesota Twins. A mildly regarded power-hitting third baseman, Sweeney took the league by storm with six home runs in his first six Major League games. In three weeks, he has 10 long balls and 27 RBI’s. He has a HR/AB ratio of one home run every 7.4 at bats. Next is Ike Davis who has slugged a home run approximately every 13 at bats. All this from an unrewarded minor leaguer making his major league debut. Incredible!
Athletics: Fiction. Pena's success this season is not without precedent. He posted similar numbers over a full season in 2007 and has always been a good hitter. The aberration was the 2011 season which was by far his worst in the majors. That he should bounce back in 2012 should not be a big surprise.
In my opinion the play of Chicago 2B Gordon Beckham and Florida OF Mike Stanton. Beckham's current OPS+ is 53 points higher than his phenomenal sophomore season in 2010 when he put up a 115 OPS+ and had a VORP of 31.6. Just a third of the way through this season he has almost matched his career high in HR and his VORP stands at 30.3. Stanton has already bested his career high in HR (18 in 2011) in only half the number of games played. He has nearly duplicated his RBI output from his rookie season which saw him put up an OPS of .768 and an OPS+ of 108. At present he sits at a 1.048 OPS and a 166 OPS+ with a VORP of 26.8. The only track record Stanton had to support these phenomenal numbers was a 33 game stint in AAA in 2011. At no other level has the youngster even approached the production he is currently putting up.
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2) Fact or Fiction, Marvin Webb is in fact "The Memib" (Most exciting man in baseball)
Rockies: Fact: It would first help to define what makes a player exciting. Pitchers can’t be exciting because they don’t pitch every day and studies have shown that most fans prefer offense to pitching. Contact is exciting because it breeds action. Same with great defense. Speed is exciting. Power can be exciting, but only if combined with contact or speed. Youth is exciting because it’s filled with potential.
With this as a backdrop, we have Marvin Webb, the game’s most exciting player. First of all, only a handful of players strike out less frequently than he does with 94 strikeouts over 916 at bats the past season and a half. He doesn’t strike out much but he’s hit over .300 in each season in the big leagues. He’s having a bit of trouble on the base paths this year, but he stole 43 bases last season and led the league in runs scored. He smashed 14 home runs and drove in 86 RBI’s from the top of the order and is on pace for 30 home runs and 100 RBI’s this year—from the leadoff spot.
Defensively, scouts rave about his corner outfield play. While I haven’t had the chance to watch the replays of any of Webb’s games, based on the fact that Jack Cust can’t go a game in the outfield without making a diving catch, I’m sure Webb is making all sorts of highlight-reel defensive plays which fans love.
Best of all, exciting comes by making plays in crucial situations. Webb has an OPS over .800 this season in close and late situations. He’s the career postseason leader in batting average, doubles, and his third in RBI’s. Throw in his youth—he’s only 24!—his unique circumstance of only playing three games in the minors, the fact that he plays on a talented team which accentuates his skills, and a smug little mustache, and Webb is the Most Exciting Man in Baseball. [/color]
Athletics: Fact. Fiction. Webb is an outstanding young player. He was very good in 2011 and appears to be on his way to being even better in 2012, but "most exciting" seems to be a stretch. An "exciting" player, in terms of a hitter, is a hitter that is heavily involved in creating runs. He's the type of player that, every time he comes to the plate, the crowd is on the edge of its seat because it expects something big to happen. This season, Webb's RC/27 is 7.3, which is good for 55th place in the league. The top three players in this stat are Carlos Gonzalez (13.6), Matt Holiday (13.6), and Hanley Ramirez (12.0). Webb has some growing to do before he can be said to have legitimately earned the nickname.
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3) Fact or Fiction, Someone other than the St. Louis Cardinals will win the NL Central.
Rockies: Fiction: At full strength, the Reds probably come back to take the Central, but with Jay Bruce out for the season, the Reds don’t have the offense to win the division. They’re hitting for power, yes, but the Reds don’t get enough base runners and don’t manufacture runs.
Given that the Cardinals still have a solid rotation (especially if Jaime Garcia begins to turn things around) with two aces, a solid Cliff Lee, and a Ryan Dempster that is pitching out of his mind, the Cards have the starters to carry them through the summer.Their lineup has some holes too, but with the best hitter in the game in Albert Pujolz, plus Matt Holliday and Colby Rasmus finally putting things together to protect Pujolz in the lineup, the Cardinals are playing the best baseball in the Central.
The Cards also get helped out by a wacky interleague schedule which has them playing a series with the Blue Jays, White Sox, and two series against the A’s. The Reds still have series with the Tigers, Twins, and Rangers.
Athletics: Fiction. The NL Central is a mess right now. St. Louis is the only team that can boast being in the top half of the league in hitting and pitching. They are also the victims of a little bad luck playing 2 wins below their pythagorean record. Their only real weakness is their bullpen, which is something that can be improved via trade. Their main competition are the Reds (28-29) and Cubs (26-31). The Reds are a bad hitting team. Their pitching is slightly above average, but as we've learned in Oakland, bad hitting and good pitching isn't a recipe for success. The Cubs are a slightly above average offensive team and a horrible pitching team. Decent hitting cannot outscore awful pitching on a consistent basis. St. Louis will win this division by 10 games or more.
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