Scott Williamson

[bmkhawk]

Good thing that Hendry addressed the lead off postiion, huh?

[Diffusion]

Also, average team scored 84 runs per inning in frames 2-6. Cubs scored 88 per and allowed 80.

[CubsFanSince1978]

I think our bullpen is going to be key next year. If everything falls into place, we're going to be incredibly deep and probably have a few pieces that can be traded to improve our offense.

 

If Williamson is healthy, he has to be your guy in either the 7th or 8th inning. That is unless Dusty has the starters throw 130 pitches :?

 

With a guy like Wuertz/Nova slated for use in the sixth inning Dusty shouldn't have to overuse are starters. I can't really remember a pen with more talent in the last years off the top of my head that the Cubs had. Ohman/Eyre/Williamson/Wuertz are all 7,8 inning guys on other clubs. Ohman and Williamson could be closers for some clubs when healthy.

 

Williamson could be a setup/closer, but I don't think Ohman could be. Ohman is rather a lefty specialist/loogy. He's not particularly good against righties.

[Tim]

I think our bullpen is going to be key next year. If everything falls into place, we're going to be incredibly deep and probably have a few pieces that can be traded to improve our offense.

 

If Williamson is healthy, he has to be your guy in either the 7th or 8th inning. That is unless Dusty has the starters throw 130 pitches :?

 

With a guy like Wuertz/Nova slated for use in the sixth inning Dusty shouldn't have to overuse are starters. I can't really remember a pen with more talent in the last years off the top of my head that the Cubs had. Ohman/Eyre/Williamson/Wuertz are all 7,8 inning guys on other clubs. Ohman and Williamson could be closers for some clubs when healthy.

 

Williamson could be a setup/closer, but I don't think Ohman could be. Ohman is rather a lefty specialist/loogy. He's not particularly good against righties.

Welcome to the forum!

 

However, I can't agree about Ohman. He had 82 PA against lefties and 78 against righties. He was incredible against lefties, holding them to a .593 OPS against. However, right handers hit about like Nefi against him, with a .695 OPS against. He's clearly better against lefties. But nobody hits him hard at all.

[treebird]

I think our bullpen is going to be key next year. If everything falls into place, we're going to be incredibly deep and probably have a few pieces that can be traded to improve our offense.

 

If Williamson is healthy, he has to be your guy in either the 7th or 8th inning. That is unless Dusty has the starters throw 130 pitches :?

 

With a guy like Wuertz/Nova slated for use in the sixth inning Dusty shouldn't have to overuse are starters. I can't really remember a pen with more talent in the last years off the top of my head that the Cubs had. Ohman/Eyre/Williamson/Wuertz are all 7,8 inning guys on other clubs. Ohman and Williamson could be closers for some clubs when healthy.

 

Williamson could be a setup/closer, but I don't think Ohman could be. Ohman is rather a lefty specialist/loogy. He's not particularly good against righties.

Welcome to the forum!

 

However, I can't agree about Ohman. He had 82 PA against lefties and 78 against righties. He was incredible against lefties, holding them to a .593 OPS against. However, right handers hit about like Nefi against him, with a .695 OPS against. He's clearly better against lefties. But nobody hits him hard at all.

 

WOW i never realized that. my opinion of will just went way up.

[frostwyrm]

Check it out, the Cubs were DEAD LAST in the majors in runs scored in the 1st inning with 58. There were only 2 other teams with less than 73. It's also worth noting that this milestone was achieved with Derrek Lee batting in the 1st inning of all but 18 games. Just underscores what an absolute sack of crap Neifi Perez is.

 

Using those numbers, average team scored 93 runs in the first inning. Cubs scored 58, allowed 91.

 

It gets worse. The Cubs were tied for 7th in MLB with 24 HR in the 1st inning. Way to set the table, Cubbies!

[CubsWin]

Check it out, the Cubs were DEAD LAST in the majors in runs scored in the 1st inning with 58. There were only 2 other teams with less than 73. It's also worth noting that this milestone was achieved with Derrek Lee batting in the 1st inning of all but 18 games. Just underscores what an absolute sack of crap Neifi Perez is.

No, not really. It does underscore, however, what a poor decision Baker made every time he batted Neifi either first or second in the order, which he did 382 times last season. Ouch.

 

Does anybody understand why didn't he play Hairston in the lead-off spot more often? Too bad Hairston couldn't man the SS position last season.

 

Here's hoping Pierre in the lead-off spot will make a difference.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Check it out, the Cubs were DEAD LAST in the majors in runs scored in the 1st inning with 58. There were only 2 other teams with less than 73. It's also worth noting that this milestone was achieved with Derrek Lee batting in the 1st inning of all but 18 games. Just underscores what an absolute sack of crap Neifi Perez is.

No, not really. It does underscore, however, what a poor decision Baker made every time he batted Neifi either first or second in the order, which he did 382 times last season. Ouch.

 

Does anybody understand why didn't he play Hairston in the lead-off spot more often? Too bad Hairston couldn't man the SS position last season.

 

Here's hoping Pierre in the lead-off spot will make a difference.

 

Neifi had 335 PA's in the 1 or 2 spot after April(date selected because it removes an abnormal hot streak from Neifi, and I'm not sure when Lee started hitting 3rd. If anyone can find that out I can recalculate from that date). He hit .253/.268/.350/.618 in those PA's. That's unacceptable from any spot in the order(Also of note, his overall numbers in that span: .262/.284/.359/.643).

[CubsWin]

Check it out, the Cubs were DEAD LAST in the majors in runs scored in the 1st inning with 58. There were only 2 other teams with less than 73. It's also worth noting that this milestone was achieved with Derrek Lee batting in the 1st inning of all but 18 games. Just underscores what an absolute sack of crap Neifi Perez is.

No, not really. It does underscore, however, what a poor decision Baker made every time he batted Neifi either first or second in the order, which he did 382 times last season. Ouch.

 

Does anybody understand why didn't he play Hairston in the lead-off spot more often? Too bad Hairston couldn't man the SS position last season.

 

Here's hoping Pierre in the lead-off spot will make a difference.

 

Neifi had 335 PA's in the 1 or 2 spot after April(date selected because it removes an abnormal hot streak from Neifi, and I'm not sure when Lee started hitting 3rd. If anyone can find that out I can recalculate from that date). He hit .253/.268/.350/.618 in those PA's. That's unacceptable from any spot in the order(Also of note, his overall numbers in that span: .262/.284/.359/.643).

Isn't it also unacceptable to pick and choose which portion of a player's stats you want to include in the debate? He still helped the team win the games in which he hit well, right? I mean we all know that Neifi isn't very good with the bat, but does that mean that when he actually does do well it doesn't count? Come on, let's be fair to the guy.

 

As a back-up SS, Perez is probably about average, certainly far from the worst. There were several other back-up middle IFers with worse offensive numbers last year. Most of those guys, however, weren't pressed into starting duty due to injury and, hopefully, they weren't batting 1st or 2nd in the order when they did play.

 

But my point was, why was Baker not playing Hairston more often given the Cubs dire need for a lead-off guy? Until Cedeno came along, Baker really didn't have many options at SS so Neifi almost had to be in the line-up, but there is no excuse for batting him at the top of the order. Baker also kept running Corey out there to play CF and Hollandsworth/Dubois in LF when Hairston could have playing instead of them and providing the Cubs with their much needed lead-off hitter. At what point is it reasonable to start working Hairston in at those two positions especially when every other lead-off hitter is failing miserably to get on base in front of an incredibly hot Derrek Lee? Was Hairston's lack of playing time really due to him not being 100%? He was able to play. Did he need time off due to soreness or something?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Check it out, the Cubs were DEAD LAST in the majors in runs scored in the 1st inning with 58. There were only 2 other teams with less than 73. It's also worth noting that this milestone was achieved with Derrek Lee batting in the 1st inning of all but 18 games. Just underscores what an absolute sack of crap Neifi Perez is.

No, not really. It does underscore, however, what a poor decision Baker made every time he batted Neifi either first or second in the order, which he did 382 times last season. Ouch.

 

Does anybody understand why didn't he play Hairston in the lead-off spot more often? Too bad Hairston couldn't man the SS position last season.

 

Here's hoping Pierre in the lead-off spot will make a difference.

 

Neifi had 335 PA's in the 1 or 2 spot after April(date selected because it removes an abnormal hot streak from Neifi, and I'm not sure when Lee started hitting 3rd. If anyone can find that out I can recalculate from that date). He hit .253/.268/.350/.618 in those PA's. That's unacceptable from any spot in the order(Also of note, his overall numbers in that span: .262/.284/.359/.643).

Isn't it also unacceptable to pick and choose which portion of a player's stats you want to include in the debate? He still helped the team win the games in which he hit well, right? I mean we all know that Neifi isn't very good with the bat, but does that mean that when he actually does do well it doesn't count? Come on, let's be fair to the guy.

 

I said before that if anyone can find when Lee started hitting 3rd, or if Fred can isolate games that Neifi hits 1 or 2 with Lee hitting 3rd, I'd do the numbers from there. I know Lee wasn't hitting 3rd to start the year, and my recollection was that it took a little while for him to move to that spot.

 

Dusty didn't see Hairston as an option for SS. Whether it was because his defense would have been too poor, or he wasn't thinking outside the box, or he just plain didn't like Hairston as some have thought, I do not know.

Edited January 29, 2006 by Transmogrified Tiger

[BigbadB]

Looks like he was basically in the 3 spot to stay in game 18.

 

It almost coincides with Nomar's injury, which appears to have happened in game 16.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Looks like he was basically in the 3 spot to stay in game 18.

 

It almost coincides with Nomar's injury, which appears to have happened in game 16.

 

From that point on, he was .260/.277/.378 in the 1 and 2 hole, .271/.295/.380 overall.

[Fred Hornkohl]

Looks like he was basically in the 3 spot to stay in game 18.

 

It almost coincides with Nomar's injury, which appears to have happened in game 16.

 

Derek first hit in the 3rd spot on 20 April (game #15) which was, in fact, the game in which Nomar was injured. From that point through 05 May (game #27) Baker alternated between Lee, Ramirez, and Patterson in the 3rd spot. From game #28 on, Lee hit in the 3rd spot in all but 4 games. He swapped places with Ramirez on 10 May (game #32) v. NY Mets. Then he missed 3 games altogether, 07-08 July (games #83-85) in Atlanta & Florida.

[Fred Hornkohl]

Here are the 25 games that Neifi led off with Derrek Lee hitting 3rd......

 

Gm#    Date       Opponent         Score  Starter
45  Thu 05/26    Colorado          2- 5  Zambrano      
47  Sat 05/28    Colorado          5- 1  Rusch        
50  Tue 05/31  @ Los Angeles   N   2- 1  Zambrano      
51  Wed 06/01  @ Los Angeles   N   9- 5  Koronka       
52  Thu 06/02  @ San Diego     N   5- 0  Rusch        
53  Fri 06/03  @ San Diego     N   2- 6  Mitre        
55  Sun 06/05  @ San Diego         4- 0  Zambrano      
57  Tue 06/07    Toronto       N   4- 6  Rusch        
58  Wed 06/08    Toronto           2- 0  Mitre        
59  Fri 06/10    Boston           14- 6  Maddux        
60  Sat 06/11    Boston            7- 6  Zambrano      
61  Sun 06/12    Boston        N   1- 8  Rusch        
62  Mon 06/13    Florida       N   1- 9  Koronka       
63  Tue 06/14    Florida       N  14- 0  Mitre        
64  Wed 06/15    Florida           5-15  Maddux        
65  Fri 06/17  @ NY Yanks      N   6- 9  Zambrano      
66  Sat 06/18  @ NY Yanks          1- 8  Rusch        
67  Sun 06/19  @ NY Yanks          3- 6  Mitre        
68  Mon 06/20  @ Milwaukee     N   5- 4  Maddux        
82  Tue 07/05  @ Atlanta       N   1- 5  Maddux        
150  Sun 09/18    St. Louis         7- 4  Zambrano      
151  Tue 09/20  @ Milwaukee     N   3- 5  Williams      
152  Wed 09/21  @ Milwaukee     N   6- 7  Prior        
153  Thu 09/22  @ Milwaukee         3- 0  Maddux        
154  Fri 09/23    Houston           5- 4  Rusch  

 

During that collection of games, the CUBS went 13-12, scoring 4.68 runs per game. The teams' offensive & defensive line for this collection of games ......

 

                   AB    R    H   2b   3b   HR   TB  RBI   BB   SO     BA    OBP    SLG    OPS
CUBS              879  117  258   61    4   26  405  109   50  140  0.294  0.333  0.461  0.793

 

                     IP    H    R   ER   BB    K   HR  BB/9   K/9  HR/9  WHIP   ERA
CUBS              219.7  229  120  114   87  174   26  3.56  7.13  1.07  1.44  4.67

 

 

 

Game listing for Neifi hitting second and Lee hitting 3rd ....

 

Gm#    Date       Opponent         Score  Starter
15  Wed 04/20  @ St. Louis     N   3- 1  Zambrano      
18  Sun 04/24    Pittsburgh        5- 2  Wood        
19  Mon 04/25    Cincinnati    N  10- 6  Prior        
29  Sat 05/07    Philadelphia      1- 4  Rusch        
30  Sun 05/08    Philadelphia      2- 1  Zambrano      
31  Mon 05/09    New York      N   4- 7  Leicester     
33  Wed 05/11    New York          4- 3  Prior        
34  Fri 05/13  @ Washington    N   6- 3  Rusch        
35  Sat 05/14  @ Washington    N   3- 4  Zambrano      
36  Sun 05/15  @ Washington        4- 5  Maddux        
37  Tue 05/17  @ Pittsburgh    N   4- 3  Prior        
38  Wed 05/18  @ Pittsburgh        3- 2  Rusch        
40  Sat 05/21    Chicago (AL)      3- 5  Zambrano      
41  Sun 05/22    Chicago (AL)      4- 3  Prior        
42  Mon 05/23    Houston       N   4- 1  Rusch        
43  Tue 05/24    Houston       N   4- 2  Mitre        
44  Wed 05/25    Houston       N   1- 5  Maddux        
46  Fri 05/27    Colorado         10- 3  Prior        
48  Sun 05/29    Colorado         11- 6  Mitre        
49  Mon 05/30  @ Los Angeles   N   5- 3  Maddux        
54  Sat 06/04  @ San Diego     N  11- 5  Maddux        
56  Mon 06/06    Toronto       N   1- 4  Koronka       
70  Wed 06/22  @ Milwaukee     N   4- 9  Zambrano      
71  Thu 06/23  @ Milwaukee         7- 8  Rusch        
72  Fri 06/24  @ Chicago (AL)      2-12  Mitre        
73  Sat 06/25  @ Chicago (AL)      6- 2  Maddux        
74  Sun 06/26  @ Chicago (AL)      2- 0  Prior        
75  Tue 06/28    Milwaukee     N   2- 0  Zambrano      
76  Wed 06/29    Milwaukee         3- 2  Wood        
78  Fri 07/01    Washington        3- 4  Prior        
79  Sat 07/02    Washington        2- 4  Williams      
103  Fri 07/29    Arizona           4- 3  Prior        
111  Sun 08/07  @ New York          1- 6  Zambrano      
115  Thu 08/11    St. Louis        11- 4  Maddux        
120  Tue 08/16  @ Houston       N   4- 1  Maddux        
124  Sun 08/21  @ Colorado          7- 9  Maddux        
133  Wed 08/31    Los Angeles       0- 7  Rusch        
136  Sun 09/04  @ Pittsburgh        2- 0  Williams      
138  Tue 09/06  @ St. Louis     N   5- 2  Rusch        
141  Fri 09/09  @ San Francisco N   1- 2  Williams      
143  Sun 09/11  @ San Francisco     3- 2  Rusch        
144  Mon 09/12    Cincinnati    N   2- 5  Maddux        
148  Fri 09/16    St. Louis         5- 3  Rusch        
149  Sat 09/17    St. Louis         1- 5  Maddux        
155  Sat 09/24    Houston           3- 8  Zambrano      
156  Sun 09/25    Houston           3- 2  Williams      
157  Tue 09/27    Pittsburgh    N   3- 5  Maddux        
158  Wed 09/28    Pittsburgh        2- 3  Prior        
159  Thu 09/29  @ Houston       N   3- 2  Rusch        
160  Fri 09/30  @ Houston       N   4- 3  Zambrano      
161  Sat 10/01  @ Houston           1- 3  Williams   

 

During this collection of games, the CUBS went 29-22, scoring 3.90 runs per game. The team's offensive & defensive lines for this collection of games .......

 

                   AB    R    H   2b   3b   HR   TB  RBI   BB   SO     BA    OBP    SLG    OPS
CUBS             1682  199  423   87    7   62  710  190  134  326  0.251  0.311  0.422  0.733

 

                     IP    H    R   ER   BB    K   HR  BB/9   K/9  HR/9  WHIP   ERA
CUBS              451.0  387  194  184  147  383   57  2.93  7.64  1.14  1.18  3.67

 

 

I just can't help but point out.....

 

The CUBS are 42-34 when Neifi hits in the top of the order..... 37-49 when he doesn't.

 

Sorry 'bout that :wink:

Edited January 29, 2006 by Fred Hornkohl

[stitchface]

so the cubs pitched better when neifi hit second as opposed to first?

[Fred Hornkohl]

so the cubs pitched better when neifi hit second as opposed to first?

 

Yes, and that improvement can pretty much all be credited to the bullpen.

[stitchface]

so the cubs pitched better when neifi hit second as opposed to first?

 

Yes, and that improvement can pretty much all be credited to the bullpen.

 

or luck looking at the k/9 and hits/9.

[CuseCubFan69]

The Cubs are just more clutch when Neifi bats at the two hole.

[Fred Hornkohl]

ERA's with Neifi hitting leadoff....

 

Starters 	Relief 	Overall 

  4.329	  5.546	   4.671

 

ERA's with Neifi fitting second.....

 

Starters 	Relief 	Overall 

  4.024	  2.853	   3.672

 

I can't break out K/9 or H/9 between the starters and reliveres, so make what you can out of this.