 |
US Presswire photo Bryce Harper's late-season surge has put him back in the Rookie of the Year race. |
CSNwashington.com
As the MLB playoff race began to heat up after the All-Star break, and as Bryce Harper cooled down, the non-stop comparison between Harper and fellow rookie Mike Trout faded away as the season's biggest storyline. Trout ascended to a prime AL MVP candidate, and Harper started looking like the 19-year-old rookie that he was.
But while Trout has continued to out-pace Harper over the course of the entire season, recently it's been Harper with the better numbers. Over the last month, the Nationals center fielder has outperformed Trout in nearly every statistical category.
Take a look at their splits over the last four weeks...
G AVG OPS HR RBI R 3B SB
Harper 25 .305 .988 6 13 23 4 4
Trout 24 .247 .750 3 4 18 0 5
Harper’s batting average is 58 points higher and he has the edge in OPS by 238 points. Not only are the differences significant, but so is the timing. Both players bat near the top of the order on teams in playoff races, with the Nats looking for a division title and the Angels chasing the AL Wild Card.
Harper may not be in consideration for the National League MVP award, as Trout will be in the AL, but he has put himself back in the mix for NL Rookie of the Year. The two most-discussed candidates are Reds third baseman Todd Frazier (26) and Diamondbacks lefty Wade Miley (25). Frazier is the easiest to compare directly as a position player, but many of his numbers don't stack up to Harper...
G AVG OPS HR RBI R 3B SB
Harper 133 .264 .799 21 58 94 9 17
Frazier 123 .278 .845 19 65 55 6 3
Harper has more homers, 14 more stolen bases and 39 more runs scored than Frazier. Both players are on first-place teams, but Harper has made more of an impact on his team’s success.
Miley has been the favorite for the award for much of the season after going 9-5 with a 3.04 ERA in the first half. But since being named an All-Star, he's gone 7-6 with a 3.65 ERA. His overall numbers (16-11, 3.32 ERA, 187 innings) still look good for a rookie, but Harper has contributed to a much better team. The Diamondbacks are a .500 club, but won't be participating in the playoffs.
One other player that could have a say is Colorado Rockies catcher Wilin Rosario, who has come on strong in September and leads all rookies in homers (27) and RBI (70). He does, however, play on the second-worst team in the majors and has not displayed the variety of tools Harper has shown. Harper has been one of the best defensive center fielders in the game and also ranks second among NL rookies in stolen bases.
It could come down to Harper and Miley, who likely has one more start before the season comes to a close. The Nationals have six games left on their schedule, so Harper will need to continue his surge. But whether he earns the award or not, his pick up in play couldn’t have come at a better time for Washington.
78 comments:
If Harper gets 3 more stolen bases, game over, and Harper gets the Rookie of the Year. Even if Harper doesn't get 3 more steals, look at him as a 19 year old vs. Miley who is 25 years old. Both have had great seasons but Harper has made baseball history for a teenage rookie.
Bryce deserves it with his great finish!
The same with Rosario ... age before beauty as they say.
If he does manage to become a 20/20 player ...
Rosario probably doesn't have a triple and Harper has 9. That's hard to do and a triple is just shy of a home run.
Harper's R/AB ratio is crazy good. He scores runs in bunches.
Going up against Yadi Molina may be tough to get stolen bases this weekend. Harp may have to get his 3 stolen bases on Monday/Tuesday/Wed vs the Phillies.
Just to follow up on the last thread, I pulled the starters from the sortable schedule on Nationals.com and it's still showing Jax, Wang, Zim.
And if you want to take a look at the currently fashionable measurement, Wns Above Replacement (WAR), Harper is well ahead, 4.3 to Frazier's 2.2. Frazier acltually has -0.3 defensive WAR for this season, while Harper is finely in positive territory at 1.3.
(Also, though it might not matter to ROY voters, Harper is a 'pure' rookie in that he had no ML experience prior to this season, unlike Frazier who (like Trout) played last year and fell just short of the 120 at bats that would have made him a rookie that year. (Miley and Rosario also played last season; Rosario had 54 AB and Miley pitched 40 innings in 8 games.)
We shouldn't compare Bryan to Trout.
Trout's first year in the big leagues as a 19-year-old came last season and put up these numbers:
.220/.281/.390 with 5 HR and 16 RBI.
He wasn't successful.
Harper @ 19: .264/.334/.465, 21 HR, 58 RBI
Griffey @ 19: .264/.334/.465, 16 HR, 61 RBI
Mantle @ 19: .267/.349./.443, 13 HR, 65 RBI
AL pitchers seem to have figured out Trout (to an extend) while Harper, after being figured out, have made adjustments and is doing well.
I don't know how high Harper's ceiling is, but I think it's going to be at least in the same conversation with those players mentioned above.
Regardless, I'll take a career of .310-33-110, 25 SB and a near-Gold Glove every year and be very happy.
Farid @ Idaho
Anyone have on update on mailing of post season strips? Last I heard is that would go late this week, but have seen no evidence of this...
LOL Farid, that's not lofty expectations at all.
Diz, mlb's scoreboard and nats' probabl pitchers page does not show wang. Agrees with 1a's post.
Uh, last time I checked Harps had all the NL ROY candidates beaten with his WAR.
Harper had Trout beaten in the AFL last year. Trout had better stats than Bryce for 5/6 months this year. It will be fun watching them over the years, providing they both stay healthy.
Trout is probably the better CFer, but that's been his position for his pro/am career. Bryce was a catcher up until last year. Trout is probably a faster runner, but Harper makes up in hustle what he may lack in speed.
Haven't seen Trout play much, but it would be hared to duplicate Harper's basebll instincts.
Over time, Harper will probably hit longer and more HRs than Trout. Like 23 or 24 teams, the Nats passed on Trout in the draft. How good would it have been to have both in our OF.
Diz, the MLB site has JZim on Saturday.
Play down the stretch in a pennant race should matter. Harper's OPS in September has been .988, with 6 HR and 23 runs scored, while Frazier is hitting almost like a pitcher, with a .549 OPS, 1 HR and 6 runs. Rosario has 18 of his HR at Coors Field - I'd say that gets a big asterisk. And a position player should get the edge over any pitcher that isn't also in the Cy Young discussion. Harper should be RoY.
Farid - I don't think AL pitchers have figured out Trout. I think Trout is banged up and playing more games than he has ever played and his September numbers have dropped off of the pace he was on and it probably cost him the AL MVP but he wins the AL R.O.Y. by a landslide.
Miley's last few starts haven't been good. He has 1 start left. He should be the #2 in the Rookie of the Year.
Frazier is a good kid and a solid player but not spoken in the same breath as Bryce Harper. He is 26 years old and to put that in perspective, he was a Junior in High School when Bryce was in 5th grade in Elementary School.
GoSM, it doesn't matter how old Frazier is. Ichiro won Rookie of the Year in his Age 27 year after many years of playing baseball professionally at a high level. If you're a rookie, you're a rookie.
I do agree that he lags behind Harper, though. At the plate their seasons have been virtually the same with maybe a slight edge to Frazier, but position, defense and baserunning all move the needle strongly in Harper's favor.
bowdenball, you are correct that age isn't technically a consideration for ROY only that they are considered a Rookie, but there are voters who will take age into consideration and that will cost Frazier further.
bowdenball, how many 26 years old is frazier outperforming? and how many 19 or older harper is outperforming?
Ichiro had such a season that he won MVP also, so not exactly compares to frazier's age argument.
Laddie Blah Blah said...He has picked up Ryan Perry, Christian Garcia, Corey Brown, HRod, Zach Walters and other assets for almost nothing.
All good points until you mentioned Corey Brown and HRod who were acquired in the Josh Willingham trade. I wouldn't consider that "almost nothing".
Diz, I was looking at this.
For some reason AL pitchers fed Trout fastballs for most of the summer. NL pitchers figured out, early on, that trying to get the FB past Harper was a losing proposition. Now that Trout has had so much success, the AL pitchers have revised their approach to him. For whatever reason, the NL pitchers and managers targeted Harp for special attention very early on.
Harp sees more LOOGYs than any other Nats lefty bat. Opposing managers start warming up LOOGYs even before they can be sure Harp will even come up in an inning, as when he is scheduled to hit 4th.
Harp has not only had his rookie year this year, he has also had his sophomore jinx year, all rolled into one, and has overcome everything the NL and its pitchers and managers have thrown at him.
"All good points until you mentioned Corey Brown and HRod who were acquired in the Josh Willingham trade."
Picky, picky, picky, but I concede your point. I always liked Josh. Still do.
Ghost, I don't want to rehash the Willingham trade, but I think in the end it will even out. Agree it didn't turn out to be "almost nothing" because the Hammer had an amazing year and thrived in the AL--and Henry is Henry.
I have a lot of hope for Henry next season, I really do. He's a bundle of talent and you know I'm a fan. We've seen with players like Desi that it takes both talent and time to develop an All-Star. Still, I agree with the doubters that if Henry doesn't work out his problems Rizzo will need to let go of him or see if he can be a starter.
Laddie, the rest of what you said is spot on. Rizzo commited larceny on getting Suzuki and darn close to that on some other trades.
The big trades are the toughest and are always judged in hindsight.
Laddie, on the LOOGY's for Harper: that is why it was especially gratifying that Harper got one off Bastardo. Harper's gonna figure 'em out, give him time. Werth will take him to school about not taking when he was trying to steal third, and that won't happen again either. Every game is a learning experience for the Kid.
I still don't understand how we got Suzuki, and I barely understand how we got Gio. I'm happy, though.
Ghost, agreed that no way can you characterize giving Willingham as "very little".
On the other hand, you could fairly say, "for not all that much, considering." We basically traded him for one year's service in Oakland, as we could have (if we had wanted to) resigned him as an FA after last season.
NL
Kurt wasn't producing in Oakland and is owed a lot of money. Thankfully, his offensive production is way up--as good or better than it's been for any of his season's in Oakland.
If he was still producing at his early season levels, you'd be asking not HOW we got him but WHY.
"...that is why it was especially gratifying that Harper got one off Bastardo. Harper's gonna figure 'em out, give him time."
That was cool. I was thinking about Harper and Mantle, and the difference between them, and that little AB against Bastardo kind of summed it up. As good as Harp is, Mantle was far more gifted. Too gifted, maybe. His dad taught him to play the game as a kid, and he always played it like a kid.
Like Espinoza does now, Mantle tried to kill the ball in every AB. Unlike Danny, he got away with it because he killed it so often. He figured his dad had taught him well, when the fact was that he was just an athletic freak.
When his dad died, Mantle was about 22. Casey Stengel had seen and played with them all - Ruth, Gehrig, Cobb, Hornsby, and he knew that Mantle was the most gifted player he had ever seen, bar none. Casey had seen how John McGraw had mentored a young Mel Ott, and he figured he would be John McGraw to Mantle's Ott.
Mantle was a country boy who would listen patiently while Casey pontificated on this or that, and then would completely ignore the old man.
It drove Casey nuts. The one and only thing he listened to Casey about was bunting, because his dad had never taught him that. Of course, Mantle only became the most successful practitioner of the drag bunt that the game has ever seen, which only confirmed Casey's judgment about Mantle's unlimited potential.
But bunting was the beginning and end of everything that Mantle learned from Casey. Whatever his dad had taught him as a kid was good enough for everything else.
Bastardo would never have struck out Mantle the way he handled Harp, but Bryce, unlike Mantle, is always looking to improve his game. He is not as talented as Mick was, but he will be the better player. The mental part of the game is greatly underestimated, IMO, and Harp's mental approach and makeup will serve him well for years to come.
Harp will not be as good as Mantle could have been, but he will be better than Mantle actually was.
Laddie, nice writing on Mantle. Watching Mantle in his latter years, the demons got him too.
Harp is a student and a sponge and ALR, Werth and Davey are his main teachers.
I am enjoying watching Bryce more than other player.
1a,
Well that's good. I like that rotation better with Det versus Wang.
I guess Davey doesn't care about the Righty/Righty matchup with the Cards as much as lining up the more proven pitcher.
Totally agree with your last sentence Laddie.
Doubt that The Mick spent much, if any, time in the weight room. Because of that, Bryce's life style, and the fact that Bryce is 4-5" taller than The Mick, he will hit more and longer HR's. Over a career Bryce could probably surpass most of Mantle's stuff.
Frazier vs Harper for ROY is like the Keith Law piece on Cabrera vs. Trout for AL MVP. Frazier has similar old school offensive stats but Harper has played high end CF while Frazier has played below average to lousy at 3B and 1B. To me, Harper wins by a mile in that comparison with WAR of 4.5 to Frazier at 2.7.
Miley's WAR is also 4.5 and a starting pitcher rookie is impressive.
So, the only debate to me is Miley vs Harper. I would be outraged if Frazier beat either one of those guys.
Personally I think only being 19 should be the tie breaker for Harper vs Miley. They honestly could just give it to both of them, they are pretty equal.
so whats the next player we get from OAK.
Well, looking at the stat for Gio vs. Dickey turned out to be pretty much of a dead end in terms of the teams they won and lost against. Both in the same division. But at least I eliminated Cueto by that logic.
Okay, GM wannabees, which of those other rookie of the year candidates would you trade Bryce for?
I thought so. Me either.
If he [Suzuki] was still producing at his early season levels, you'd be asking not HOW we got him but WHY.
Yes, I was being semi-facetious. But if he wasn't injured (and apparently he wasn't), then you have to ask, why wasn't he performing in Oakland at the level he was clearly capable of and what woke him up here? He missed Gio? Seriously? Oakland is a pitcher's park? Well, it always was.
Espi should go to school on Harper's ability to adjust to what the league is doing to him. I love that Bryce is such a student of the game and is constantly learning from anyone who knows anything.
Mark Jones @natsrgreat
Just spoke with #Nats ticket office. Rep said playoff tix will be mailed today/Monday. Email w/ tracking info should come.
I'd like to see the Nats break the Expos annual win total, was it 96?
Doc, I don't think many baseball players spent time lifting weights in the 1950s. I think the conventional wisdom back then thought lifting weights might lead to a player being less flexible/musclebound and also that it could increase muscle pulls and strains.
Just a reminder. For fun.
With 6 games left to play in 2011, the Fillies were 98-58. (.628) Today, 78-78. (.500) -20
With 6 games left to play in 2011, the Nats were 76-79. (.490) Today, 95-61. (.609) +19
I wouldn't put much stock in what the various websites say about "probable pitchers." Who knows what they are basing that on. Hopefully the beat writers will tweet what Davey says in today's pregame presser, or Mark will put it in his next post. Based on what Davey said last weekend, I'm still expecting Wang to start tomorrow or Sunday.
Someone mentioned JZnn not being good on extra rest. Last time this was discussed, I looked at how he's done on extra rest, and the data didn't support the conclusion that he's worse on more rest.
In any event, if he starts Saturday or Sunday, he's not going to start again until at least Oct. 6. So I guess we'll see how he does on extra rest at that point.
Would love to see Nats win 100, that would mean winning 5 of last 6. It would be the first 100 win team in DC ever
I believe the 1933 team won 99 games in a 154 game season, now that is impressive
If he keeps it up, I don't see how you award the NY ROY to anyone else. His WAR is higher, and he has done all this with less time in the majors than the other guys.
Davey says that JZimm overthrows on extra rest, that he's too strong. Surely these coaches know how to make sure the pitchers are perfectly ready to go, when it's their turn. That's my belief and I'm sticking to it!
As for Zuke not performing as well in Oakland: he was splitting time with, ahem, a former baby Nat. And Norris was winning the job, same as WIlson won it here from Pudge and Jesus. I think one big difference is he knows he's The Guy right now. Who knows what Wilson will be like in the spring. And he's done his time studying the hitting in the NL, so he has the bandwidth, on all levels, to dig down and produce like he's The Guy.
bowdenball, following up on an earlier thread about lining up Gio, here's an interesting take on it from Harper at natsbaseball.blogspot.com:
"I'd rank scenarios from most likely to least:
(1) HFA not decided, Nats close to cliching/ have clinched pennant.
I think you still pitch Gio on the 2nd because you want to win HFA and if you do - everything works out for you. I could see Gio being on a short leash though, pulled early if the Nats take a big lead or he gives up a bunch of runs.
(2) HFA won, Nats close to cliching/ have clinched pennant.
Obviously you pitch Gio on the 2nd
(3) HFA not decided, Nats / Braves separated by <=2 games.
I think you have to pitch Gio on the 2nd here. You need the win for 2 reasons now and you don't want to fool around with short rest
(4) HFA lost, Nats / Braves separated by <=2 games.
Still again - have to pitch Gio on normal rest, right? Don't want to try an short rest game - lose it and find yourself in an even closer situation to the Braves.
(5) HFA lost, Nats close to cliching/ have clinched pennant.
I would go with a short rest start for Gio on the 1st."
Which of these scenarios presents itself on Oct. 1-2 depends on the outcomes of three different sets of games this weekend: Nats vs. Cards, Braves vs. Mets, and Reds vs. Pirates. It's like a Rubik's cube.
Mark, want to put the Magic Number for clinching Home Field Advantage up on the board? I think it's 5 now because the Nats won the season series against the Reds. So if we sweep and the Reds lose 2 or more, or we win 2 of 3 and the Reds get swept, we've got it. Otherwise, HFA is still an open question on Monday night.
I think I might have said that the Reds play the Astros in their last series of the season. I was wrong. (Fooled by the red "C" on the mlb.com scoreboard which actually represents the Cubs.) they actually play at St. Louis. If the Cards are still in the hunt for that last Wild Card spot, that could be a very interesting series, and beneficial for the Nats HFA quest.
If we're nervous, imagine how the Cards' fans feel with their playoff chances depending on three games each against the two best teams in the National League.
If I understand correctly, Davey doesn't have to say who his starting pitcher is until he turns in the line-up card. Announcing ahead of time is a courtesy--an "unwritten rule" if you will, and we all know what Davey thinks of unwritten rules. I'm all for him deciding at the very last minute who goes, as long as the pitchers can prepare accordingly.
Thanks 222.
I think I agree with all but #1. I'd prefer HFA, but it's not worth potentially losing two Gio starts in the NLDS.
In fact, if we do win HFA, we play on the 6th. So starting Gio on the 2nd to win HFA would be kind of shooting ourselves in the foot. If we do that it becomes impossible to both win HFA and give Gio two NLDS starts. If we roll the dice and rest him, we might lose HFA, but we're assured that he'll make two NLDS starts.
bowdenball, if we win HFA, we don't play Game 1 in the NLDS until Oct. 7. On balance, I still want the HFA because (a) the WC winner's ace (Medlen/Lohse) can't start until Game 3; and (b) I want the HFA in the NLCS. But as we've discussed, Davey isn't enamored of that situation because we won't know where we're going or who our opponent is until late on Oct. 5.
While I appreciate Chase's compilation of the stats, there are far better comparisons to make. A few points:
- Frasier's importance to his team is probably equal to Harper's. Cincy's all-world player was out for a substantial portion of the season, and they hardly missed a beat.
- Harper having 2 more HR in 10 more games played is a pretty meaningless distinction.
The HUGE difference between the two is that Harp plays much better defense at a far more important position. That's what gets him the award. The timing of his surge and his age are bonuses.
When is Trout ever on on the East coast? What team does he even play for? The California Angels or are they calling them them the Anaheim Angels now?
I remember when they used to call them the Los Angeles Angels and Eddie Yost played for them, hitting .240 with an OBP of .412. Only Eddie Yost could do that--well, maybe Eddie Stanky too.
I don't need to see Trout to know that Harper is hands down better. I have been watching baseball since 1972 and Harper is the best player that I have ever seen. There is simply no way possible that Trout is even close to being the same caliber of ballplayer that Harper is.
No, I have never seen Trout play, really, ever, except for the All Star game. I only watch two teams in the AL, the Yankees and the Orioles and he rarely plays them when I am awake.
So how do I know that Harper is far better?
One, I have seen Harper play almost every game this year and I know talent.
Two, people who know talent even more than I do, have been watching Harper play for ten years, and they know talent.
Three, Trout has been on the radar for one year or less and has not been evaluated in the same way that Harper has.
Four, Harper has something in addition to talent that virtually no other players have. "It" cannot be developed. You either have "it" or you don't.
Mickey Mantle had it. Johnny Bench had it. Willie Mays had it. Ted Williams had it. Joe Dimaggio had it. George Ruth had it. Ty Cobb had it.
I love Hank Aaron, but he didn't have it. Frank Robinson didn't have it, and I love him, too. Eddie Murray didn't have it, but I don't like him that much. Mike Schmidt didn't have it. Barry Bonds didn't have it, and I don't like him at all. Lou Gehrig didn't have it, and I am sorry he died. Cal Ripken didn't have it, and I am sorry his father got fired and his brother was never any good.
Five, Harper has a better name. Harper is correlated with heaven and beautiful music and things we aspire to.
Trout is great if you throw it back, but it stinks almost immediately out of water. Trout are finicky and have to be stocked in anything but the most pristine waters.
If Harper were a fish, he would be a smallmouth bass, a far superior fighter with better survival instincts and better taste.
My prediction is that someday Trout (what is his first name anyway, Dizzy, Steve?) will be this generation's Wally Moon, as in, who was the player who beat Hank Aaron out for Rookie of the Year back in 1954?
I know one thing, almost for sure. Trout will be sitting on his ass in five days while Harper is in the NLDS....
As long as they don't follow the 2011 Phillies postseason trajectory, I'm fine with that. ;-)
NatsLady said...
Just a reminder. For fun.
With 6 games left to play in 2011, the Fillies were 98-58. (.628) Today, 78-78. (.500) -20
With 6 games left to play in 2011, the Nats were 76-79. (.490) Today, 95-61. (.609) +19
September 28, 2012 2:20 PM
JB, I think the stolen bases (17-3) is also a huge difference, not just on the face of it, but because of the lift to the team so many of them have given
If memory serves, they said on the broadcast that it was 95, so that the Nats have tied it.
Jimmy DeMoney said...
I'd like to see the Nats break the Expos annual win total, was it 96?
September 28, 2012 2:15 PM
Not sure where everyone got the idea Wang was starting tomorrow, but that's never been the case. It's Jackson tonight, Zimmermann tomorrow, Detwiler on Sunday. The only way Wang (or someone else) would start is if the Nats clinch and Davey is trying to set up his postseason rotation. But as long as the magic number remains anything more than zero, he's sticking with the regular five starters in order.
Earlier in the week, Wang was shown as the likely starter for Saturday's game on at least one media outlet's scoreboard.
I had the misfortune of having Wang selected for the last game that I attended. While I expected much worse, it was not an impressive outing, except for his nice double, which went wasted.
I wish Wang well, but I hope never to see him again in a Nats uniform. He has been a tremendous waste of time as a project, both this year and in general.
The Yankees aren't dumb. There is a reason why they let guys certain (Nick Johnson, Tyler Clippard, Wang) go. Wang has been an unfortunate distraction all year long, without really any of the upside that at least Rodriguez seemed to hold.
I don't know about other sites but that was the case in the probable pitchers section of the team site earlier in the week, fwiw.
TheManBearPig said...
Earlier in the week, Wang was shown as the likely starter for Saturday's game on at least one media outlet's scoreboard.
September 28, 2012 4:04 PM
Nats fans need to have proper respect for Montreal, the Expos, their fans and their achievements.
The only record that matters with respect to the Expos is 74-40, which works out to a winning percentage of .649. They were trending up, healthily above the Braves, and at least with respect to this year, far, far, better than this year's Nats.
To beat that mark set in the regular season in 1994, the Nationals will need to win 105 games in a regular season.
I will never forget 1994, the season where the owners and the players had so little respect for the fans that they canceled the entire post-season.
100 wins is still within reach and as noted by Boswell, is a mark the Red Sox haven't hit in a long, long time. 95 wins is mundane and humdrum. I think this group is past that now, although you have to hit 95 and 96 to get to 100.
Ah, Nick the Stick. He could not stay healthy, but I always liked the big guy and have a soft spot for him still. :-)
I loved Nick Johnson and I really liked Josh Willingham. I am not sure that we wouldn't be better with Willingham in the outfield instead of Morse, whom I like as well, but Morse was probably much cheaper.
He speaks fondly of you as well, 1a.
Top Ten All Time in Runs Scored
1. Rickey Henderson+ (25) 2295 R
2. Ty Cobb+ (24) 2246 L
3. Barry Bonds (22) 2227 L
4. Hank Aaron+ (23) 2174 R
5. Babe Ruth+ (22) 2174 L
6. Pete Rose (24) 2165 B
7. Willie Mays+ (22) 2062 R
8. Cap Anson+ (27) 1999 R
9. Stan Musial+ (22) 1949 L
10. Alex Rodriguez (19, 36) 1893 R
I should certainly hope so, Scooter. ;-)
Thanks for clearing up the rotation question Mark. The original source of mistaken information on this blog was peric's "inference" from Davey's post game presser after Wang's last start. But I do think a number of outlets picked up the idea that Davey wanted to go with RH pitchers against the Cards. Certainly, I was convinced, even though I initially strongly doubted that Wang would start again before we clinched. I doubt there will be any argument here that under the current circumstances we should go with anyone but our top 5 until we clinch the East.
So JZnn and Det will make their last starts of the regular season this weekend. E-Jax could go again on regular rest on Oct. 3 and have at least regular rest before starting Game 3 or 4 of the NLDS. JZnn and Det will be well rested for whatever games Davey wants them to start. The only remaining question is Gio. His schedule, I guess, depends on where the Magic Numbers stand come Monday.
Dang, I *still* can't type this afternoon. As previously noted, the team site showed Wang in the probable pitchers section earlier in the week.
I will say that my first typo, "probably" pitchers, was kinda funny. Unintentional, but funny. :-)
And I would never argue with Davey regarding who should take the bump. (Hi, Davey!) ;-)
I'm quite concerned about that delivery schedule for playoff tickets.
If they are not mailed until Monday, they could conceivably be delayed until Thursday, if the delivery guy comes with a note on Wednesday. (Signature required? No idea.)
Thus, in the unlikely event the Nats were playing a tiebreaker game, and it were a day game, a season-ticket holder might not have received the actual paper tickets by the day of the game.
Yes, I know they're available online in MyNationalsTickets, but doesn't it cost some money to transfer them to other people (such as ticket-plan partners)? If that were the case, I would find myself having to spend money getting tickets to people because the Nats ticket office was slow on the uptake.
And even if no transfer were involved, can one print tickets out from MyNationalsTickets? I'm not sure that's possible.
This is annoying, or maybe even worse than annoying.
A specious argument, even silly by the author of that article.
Baseball is a season consisting of 162 games. Trying to crunch numbers for 30 of those games making the case that Harper is better or what? What exactly is his point? It began as an article about Rookie of the Year, and quickly morphed into Our Rookie is better than their rookie -- oh, over the last 30 days that is .. very silly - even sophomoric it's so useless a comparison. Trout's stats are so gargantuan he is being considered for MVP. Harper is trying to eke out Rookie of the Year -- in a league where Trout Does Not play.
Interesting that Harper has outperformed Trout, but that has virtually no bearing on Rookie of the Year status nor fairly compares the seasons these two rookies have had. Just a dumb article with no point.
On William O's ramble comparing Harper to Mike Trout.
You write great satire, dude. Too bad your baseball knowledge is not as great.
Great comedy: like when you said you remember eddie Yost and the Los Angeles Angels. Then you said you started watching baseball in 1972. Hmm Yost played for the team called the Los Angeles in 1961 and '62. Oh that's right. Facts are immaterial in comedy, arent they? Keep em coming. that was hilarious!!!
Case for harper is solid for any rookie, then add that he is 19 years old, possible 20/20 in less than a full season, and is in the top 5 in runs in the entire NL all players for a 1st place team. no contest.
he is top 10 all players in runs and triples.
top 30 all players in HR, BB, SB, Slug, OPS.
Post a Comment