The Plan Unfolds…
I cannot believe the level of disrespect that is being rained down upon Miguel Rojas. Well, the disrespect is not coming from people inside of baseball. It is coming from the common fan. Before I go any further, let me explain who the “common fan” is. The common fans comprise…
I cannot believe the level of disrespect that is being rained down upon Miguel Rojas. Well, the disrespect is not coming from people inside of baseball. It is coming from the common fan. Before I go any further, let me explain who the “common fan” is. The common fans comprise 68% of people today. Most people (about 68 percent) have an IQ between 85 and 115. Only a small fraction of people have a very low IQ (below 70) or a very high IQ (above 130). So, the common fan is a person with an IQ of between 85 and 115.
At LADT, we are blessed to have way more people above the 115 IQ threshold than below the 85 IQ threshold, but occasionally some fall through the cracks. I apologize for that. Occasionally, some totally go off the rails every now and then. Notice, I did not divulge which side I am on… that may explain why I go off the rails now and again.
Conventional Wisdom is what the people on the Left Side of the Curve cling to, which is why conventional wisdom is usually wrong. People with conventional wisdom have no vision. They just have sight. They see what was or what is, not what can be. They see that Miguel Rojas had the worst year of his Marlins career in 2022 (injury related) and cannot see beyond that.
Let’s look at the Offensive Players that left and one statistic that everyone ignores:
- Cody Bellinger – 504 AB/150 Strikeouts
- Trea Turner – 652 AB/131 Strikeouts
- Joey Gallo – 117 AB/57 Strikeouts
- Edwin Rios – 86 AB/36 Strikeouts
That’s a lot of Certain Outs last season with their strikeouts. Of course, the Dodgers still have a few players who strike out a lot, led by Max Muncy and Chris Taylor, but all of them have elite OB percentages (except CT3). Miguel Vargas and Miguel Rojas combined, both struck out less than Cody Bellinger. I am not convinced that James Outman will make the team next year. He strikes out too much.
The Top Six (my top 6) of the Dodgers lineup may strike out a lot, but they get on base a lot too. Their OB%, SLB%, and OPS% are elite. The Dodgers’ 7 & 8 Hitters were what cost them their season. The bottom part of the lineup struck out way too much.
- With a strikeout, nothing happens.
- With a strikeout, runners do not generally move up.
- A strikeout is a dead end.
The Miguels do not strike out a lot. They keep the rally moving. They make contact.. and with the new shift rules that may be a really important thing. Strikeouts kill a rally. That is part of the reason why the Dodgers would either have a ton of hits and runs… or very few. It was feast or famine. Chris Tylor also struck out way too much. He hit 10 HR and struck out 160 times. If he had hit 30 or 40 HR, that might have been acceptable, but he didn’t – which is why he may be traded.
Andrew Friedman knows that the Dodgers need to cut down on the strikeouts. There may be more trades or signings, but with the new rules, strikeouts are not as much appreciated. AF is not done, but the deadline is the Trade Deadline, not Spring Training… which, BTW starts in 34 days. Let’s Ride!
Patience Grasshoppers and Low IQ Types… like me!
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Discussion (93)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Mike Trout….
They all struck out too much. In 2014, Trout struck out 184 times… and he won his first MVP. Last year, Aaron Judge struck out 175 times–but had an OPS of 1.111.
Strikeouts were a big problem for the Dodgers last year, especially from Belli, Taylor and Gallo. Ugh.
Trayce also struck out too much too–but he had a OPS over .900! And over 1,000 against righthanded pitching. Perhaps it was just a hot streak over 200 ABs–but I’m glad he’s on the Dodgers.
Yeah, Outman struck out a lot too –but his OPS for 2022 (in AA, AAA and ML) was up around 1.000, which was higher than his peers Vargas and Busch.
And has anyone mentioned that Outman excellent on defense too?
He flashed a bit of that in his too-brief stint in the majors. He was playing centerfield and sprinted up to make a diving catch on a line drive. A less able outfielder could have played it for a single and no one would have complained. If he had missed it, it would have been a triple. But he didn’t miss. (This highlight was linked to in a Juan Toribio story today on mlb.com.)
If Outman strikes out 33% of the time but produces an 800 OPS, will we be complaining about him?
Folks here may recall that I was pushing for the Dodgers to sign Yoshida to play left. Kind of like Ichiro with less speed. He walks twice as often as he strikes out. When the news reported that Boston signed for $90 million, well, it was a lot more than I expected. (And we now better understand why AF has been conservative with the pursestrings.)
If Vargas lives up to the hype, he’ll help mitigate the team’s K problem.
If AF really does a salary dump with Chris Taylor, that would help too. And Belli and Gallo and their Ks are already gone.
Better edit this Mark. You listed Trea, and Gallo twice. So the total is not 651, it is 463. You add the 25 from Alberto and the number is 488. Still way too many.