Swisher in Safeco
Fascinating peek behind the curtain from, not James in this case, but the Red Sox' VP:
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The phils new SP, John Lannan , is 2-5with a 6- plus era in Citizens bank park. How much stock do u give such things generally and how much does it mean for pitching in cbp for lannan facing the nats braves mets etc?
Asked by: PeteDecour
Answered: 12/16/2012
It doesn't mean anything, except it expands my respect for the Phillies a little. If a player plays well against YOU, you'd be surprised how much that drives demand for him within an organization. It's unusual that a team would sign a player who has pitched poorly against them.
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Dr. D had to sit and digest that one for a minute. I mean, it's definitely true; you think back over the past 20 years and it's hard to think of even a single exception.
And it's true, it seems, to a HUGE degree.
What is hard to figure, is how exactly this works within an organization. Obviously you don't have six field scouts telling Jack Zduriencik, hey, Josh Hamilton hasn't hit very well in Safeco so far. That isn't how it works.
But a picture's worth 1,000 words, and if a player has looked lousy when a team's talent judges are watching, it's easy to focus in on his problems. You can imagine that if (say) Josh Hamilton has fished at curve balls three feet outside, against the Mariners, and they have physically seen that a lot, that the Mariners would be a bit shrill about his strikeout rate. It's human nature.
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If I had to name 5 guys who absolutely loved hitting in Safeco Field, there would be Vlad Guerrero, three other guys, and Nick Swisher. He has played 45 games in this park, 226 plate appearances, which if prorated to 162 games would be:
|
AVG |
OBP |
SLG |
HR |
RBI |
R |
BB |
K |
|
.287 |
.375 |
.538 |
41 |
106 |
126 (!) |
91 |
114 |
He's played a whale of a lot of games here, and that's a line you'd expect from ... well, from Josh Hamilton.
Interesting that the Mariners haven't been unduly locked in on Swisher, considering his rampages here.
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Hamilton's gone now, and the question is, how much could Swisher help the M's in right field? ::shrug:: a lot. He has been averaging 4 WAR per season, and we expect him to do it for another 1-3 years. Hey Terry, Moe, does Swisher remind you a little bit of a left-handed Dewey Evans?
Dwight Evans wasn't a franchise player, but he could play for my team any time.
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