Do the Cubs have the same types of hitters?

[CuseCubFan69]

I was wondering if the Cubs have a decent mix of hitters to be able to handle different types of pitchers? This is one of the reasons I liked Lofton...IMO he hit against som pitchers a lot of the other Cub hitters struggles against. If Pierre can give this to the Cubs when the 3/4 guys are struggling I think he might be worth the money and prospects the Cubs gave up for him. I think too many times when the Cubs are losing 2-1 they too many times had the same types of hitters stuggling against the soft tosser or the guy that usually walks 4 guys a game we don't see that one basehit that could tie or help put the Cubs ahead.

 

Maybe we could do a brakedown in the game threads to determine how each player changes the flow of a game. Looking at the stats and seeing the 1-4 or the 2-3's we don't really see those hits happened. We also don't see that extra base taken when the ball goes in the dirt to the catcher or the 1st to thirds. It's not just speed but basic common baseball intellegence to make that special play. We don't see the 10 pitch AB's that could help later in the game. Do the Cubs have players that can do this? Can we be able to statistically find a way to keep track of these types of things or should we just put a special asterisks that shows this type of thing? I don't deny that you need the Lee's and ARam's to make a lineup better but I would like to see some recognition go to those hitters that bring something out of the ordinary to the lineup that might help the Cubs win those 1-0 3-2 and 2-1 games.

[Guest]

Maybe we could do a brakedown in the game threads to determine how each player changes the flow of a game. Looking at the stats and seeing the 1-4 or the 2-3's we don't really see those hits happened. We also don't see that extra base taken when the ball goes in the dirt to the catcher or the 1st to thirds. It's not just speed but basic common baseball intellegence to make that special play. We don't see the 10 pitch AB's that could help later in the game. Do the Cubs have players that can do this? Can we be able to statistically find a way to keep track of these types of things or should we just put a special asterisks that shows this type of thing?

Some of them shouldn't be too hard to do. Keeping track of first-thirds and pitch counts is something I already keep track of. Advancing on balls in the dirt shouln't be too hard, either, as most all of those are probably scored as wild pitches. Anything else you're interested in seeing?

[Cubzfan64]

Maybe we could do a brakedown in the game threads to determine how each player changes the flow of a game. Looking at the stats and seeing the 1-4 or the 2-3's we don't really see those hits happened. We also don't see that extra base taken when the ball goes in the dirt to the catcher or the 1st to thirds. It's not just speed but basic common baseball intellegence to make that special play. We don't see the 10 pitch AB's that could help later in the game. Do the Cubs have players that can do this? Can we be able to statistically find a way to keep track of these types of things or should we just put a special asterisks that shows this type of thing?

Some of them shouldn't be too hard to do. Keeping track of first-thirds and pitch counts is something I already keep track of. Advancing on balls in the dirt shouln't be too hard, either, as most all of those are probably scored as wild pitches. Anything else you're interested in seeing?

 

I was thinking the other day that it might be fun to have some subjective "awards" for each game and keep track of them throughout the year. Things like "best defensive play," "worst defensive play," "clutch hit," "game MVP" and any other such things that seem interesting. Not only might it provide for alot of fun discussion, but it might be fun to keep track of it throughout the year to see whether certain guys are are turning up more often than others and whether that's for good things or bad.

 

Just a thought

[CuseCubFan69]

Maybe we could do a brakedown in the game threads to determine how each player changes the flow of a game. Looking at the stats and seeing the 1-4 or the 2-3's we don't really see those hits happened. We also don't see that extra base taken when the ball goes in the dirt to the catcher or the 1st to thirds. It's not just speed but basic common baseball intellegence to make that special play. We don't see the 10 pitch AB's that could help later in the game. Do the Cubs have players that can do this? Can we be able to statistically find a way to keep track of these types of things or should we just put a special asterisks that shows this type of thing?

Some of them shouldn't be too hard to do. Keeping track of first-thirds and pitch counts is something I already keep track of. Advancing on balls in the dirt shouln't be too hard, either, as most all of those are probably scored as wild pitches. Anything else you're interested in seeing?

 

The guys that get a single when the rest of the team is struggling. Maybe I'm romanticizing Lofton but I liked the different type of hitter he was from the rest of the lineup. If you just have a bunch of dead reds that just sit on those fastballs and can't hit those junk guys I would like to see how the Pierre's or Cedeno's or anyone else that can spark a struggling lineup to tie the game when the Cubs have to pull one out. That key walk instead of some guy swinging at ball 4 in the dirt can just make that type of game go into the Cubs favor.

 

Do you know how many 10 pitch AB's or more the Cubs had last year and how the Cubs did in those games? Or a couple of 9's as I really don't want to quantify a specific namber and eliminate a quality AB. Maybe that's something they can have is Quality AB's.

 

My team had a nice season but we had 3 one run games and it was the guys that batted 6-9 that made the big difference in those games for us to win all 3. 10 pitch battles to tire a dominate pitcher or that key walk to get on so we could steal second off a bad catcher. There just seems to be so many games that can be won on little things like that that don't go into the box scores.

[Guest]

Do you know how many 10 pitch AB's or more the Cubs had last year and how the Cubs did in those games? Or a couple of 9's as I really don't want to quantify a specific namber and eliminate a quality AB. Maybe that's something they can have is Quality AB's.

I'd consider any AB with a positive outcome a quality AB... I'd rather a player double down the line on the first pitch he sees than ground out to short on the tenth. Anyway, here's a breakdown of of how often Cubs hitters worked the count to various pitch counts in 2005:

 

#P   Frequency
--------------
1          889
2         1144
3         1111
4         1140
5          895
6          571
7          243
8          100
9           41
10          14
11           8
12           2
13           3

The Cubs only had 27 PA last season that lasted 10 pitches or longer. (Which works out to be about 0.4% of the team's total PA.) Countig 9 pitch PA bumps that total to 68 (1.1%) while lowering the threshold to 8 increases the total to 168 (2.7%). Telling you the team's record in those games is a bit more difficult, but I doubt it would tell you a whole lot, anyway.

[Banedon]

Do you know how many 10 pitch AB's or more the Cubs had last year and how the Cubs did in those games? Or a couple of 9's as I really don't want to quantify a specific namber and eliminate a quality AB. Maybe that's something they can have is Quality AB's.

I'd consider any AB with a positive outcome a quality AB... I'd rather a player double down the line on the first pitch he sees than ground out to short on the tenth. Anyway, here's a breakdown of of how often Cubs hitters worked the count to various pitch counts in 2005:

 

#P   Frequency
--------------
1          889
2         1144
3         1111
4         1140
5          895
6          571
7          243
8          100
9           41
10          14
11           8
12           2
13           3

The Cubs only had 27 PA last season that lasted 10 pitches or longer. (Which works out to be about 0.4% of the team's total PA.) Countig 9 pitch PA bumps that total to 68 (1.1%) while lowering the threshold to 8 increases the total to 168 (2.7%). Telling you the team's record in those games is a bit more difficult, but I doubt it would tell you a whole lot, anyway.

 

I'm sure it's a lot more work, but I wonder how these numbers compare to the league average?

[CuseCubFan69]

Do you know how many 10 pitch AB's or more the Cubs had last year and how the Cubs did in those games? Or a couple of 9's as I really don't want to quantify a specific namber and eliminate a quality AB. Maybe that's something they can have is Quality AB's.

I'd consider any AB with a positive outcome a quality AB... I'd rather a player double down the line on the first pitch he sees than ground out to short on the tenth. Anyway, here's a breakdown of of how often Cubs hitters worked the count to various pitch counts in 2005:

 

#P   Frequency
--------------
1          889
2         1144
3         1111
4         1140
5          895
6          571
7          243
8          100
9           41
10          14
11           8
12           2
13           3

The Cubs only had 27 PA last season that lasted 10 pitches or longer. (Which works out to be about 0.4% of the team's total PA.) Countig 9 pitch PA bumps that total to 68 (1.1%) while lowering the threshold to 8 increases the total to 168 (2.7%). Telling you the team's record in those games is a bit more difficult, but I doubt it would tell you a whole lot, anyway.

 

Interesting numbers BK, thanks. Now I wonder how many times the Cubs had those long AB's and did the Cubs win the game? I too would rather have the double down the line and the first pitch fastball usually gives a hitter a higher average when they swing. But, I think it's intersting to see when they miss their opportunity how the do form there? I know you can find the stats on counts and how well hitters do from there and I have a feeling that the Cubs were near the bottom when they had a 0-2 and 1-2 counts. It's the battle between the hitter that isn't that talented to not give in and keep that pitch count going is what I would like to see the Cubs do. Perez, CPatt and Macias just swung at too many pitches to do this and when they battled it seemed to be in a 0-2 and 1-2 count and didn't get the count to 3-2 or work the walk. I remember a Cedeno AB that was absolutely wonderful to watch and he either singled or walked. Also, what happened after the 9 or more pitch AB is something I'd like to see. How much of an effect did it really have and did it actually help the Cubs go into the other teams pen a little deeper or sooner than the other team wanted?

[ThePenguin11]

The thing I like about this team is that besides Lee and Jones, there aren't very many strikeouts in the lineup. Walker, Pierre and Barrett are some of the toughest guys to strike out at their position. Murton and Cedeno both seem like patient and smart hitters. And Ramirez's strike out totals have really improved over the past few years. All JH really had to do was get a well rounded hitter for RF and this would be a pretty fiesty lineup.

[Guest]

I'm sure it's a lot more work, but I wonder how these numbers compare to the league average?

Not really. Here ya go:

 

#P   Cubs    League   Cubs %PA  (L) % PA
----------------------------------------
15      0         4     0.00%      0.00%
14      0         2     0.00%      0.00%
13      3        24     0.05%      0.01%
12      2        54     0.03%      0.03%
11      8       182     0.13%      0.10%
10     14       434     0.23%      0.23%
9      41      1210     0.67%      0.65%
8     100      3146     1.62%      1.70%
7     243      8145     3.94%      4.40%
6     571     18416     9.27%      9.94%
5     895     29055    14.53%     15.68%
4    1140     34624    18.50%     18.69%
3    1111     33572    18.03%     18.12%
2    1144     32543    18.57%     17.56%
1     889     23892    14.43%     12.89%
----------------------------------------
Tot. 6161    185303   100.00%    100.00%

It seems the Cubs had a few more really long ABs and many more 1-2 pitch ABs at the expense of 4-7 pitch ABs.

[da bears]

The thing I like about this team is that besides Lee and Jones, there aren't very many strikeouts in the lineup. Walker, Pierre and Barrett are some of the toughest guys to strike out at their position. Murton and Cedeno both seem like patient and smart hitters. And Ramirez's strike out totals have really improved over the past few years. All JH really had to do was get a well rounded hitter for RF and this would be a pretty fiesty lineup.

 

Hopefully Jones can cut his down. I think one of the most annoying things about this team is that they will hit the heck out of the ball against Roger Clemens or Josh Beckett or Roy Oswalt one day, then the very next day a Doug Davis or Chris Capuano will shut them down. It's extremely annoying.

[CuseCubFan69]

The thing I like about this team is that besides Lee and Jones, there aren't very many strikeouts in the lineup. Walker, Pierre and Barrett are some of the toughest guys to strike out at their position. Murton and Cedeno both seem like patient and smart hitters. And Ramirez's strike out totals have really improved over the past few years. All JH really had to do was get a well rounded hitter for RF and this would be a pretty fiesty lineup.

 

Hopefully Jones can cut his down. I think one of the most annoying things about this team is that they will hit the heck out of the ball against Roger Clemens or Josh Beckett or Roy Oswalt one day, then the very next day a Doug Davis or Chris Capuano will shut them down. It's extremely annoying.

 

I'm curious on how Jones is going to handle hitting the ball on the nut and it dying in the wind at Wrigley. He's not that good of a hitter and when he does get one right it'll be interesting to see how he handles that failure.

[barodacubs]

expect jones to do pretty well. he knows what he was doing wrong last year (pulling the ball) and is dedicated to becomeing a .300 hitter again. He was working with tony gwinn this off season. He is at his best when he is hitting the ball into the left-center gap. he has 20-25 HR power and 15-25 SB speed. he has been a free swinger throughout his career, so i dont think he will fit well into the 2 hole. he would fit very well into the 5 spot.

so after seeing him play for the twins everyday for 4 years, I am hoping he will hit .300/25/95 with 25 SB, but am expecting .300/20/75 with 10-20 SB, depending on how often dusty sends him.

[USSoccer]

expect jones to do pretty well. he knows what he was doing wrong last year (pulling the ball) and is dedicated to becomeing a .300 hitter again. He was working with tony gwinn this off season. He is at his best when he is hitting the ball into the left-center gap. he has 20-25 HR power and 15-25 SB speed. he has been a free swinger throughout his career, so i dont think he will fit well into the 2 hole. he would fit very well into the 5 spot.

so after seeing him play for the twins everyday for 4 years, I am hoping he will hit .300/25/95 with 25 SB, but am expecting .300/20/75 with 10-20 SB, depending on how often dusty sends him.

 

Does he know what he did wrong the two years before last? Because he's been bad for more than just last season.

 

Optimism is good, but I think those expectations are just ripe for letting you down.

 

I'd be shocked if he hit better than .275.