one thing i've noticed....

[Magnetic Curses]

this may go hand-in-hand with the "sox walk, cubs don't" thread, but i think this topic deserved it's own thread and i don't start many threads so hopefully i'll get the benefit of the doubt from the mods (please).

 

i could be wrong, but i've noticed that, overwhelmingly, cubs hitters are not willing to take strike 3--not even with a full count. cubs hitters are the easiest hitters in the league to pitch to with a full count because the one and only reason they've worked the count full was to get to a guarateed fastball, a fastball which doesn't always come. it's like they've made up their mind that the pitcher positively, absolutely is going to throw a fastball down the middle and it's going to be the most hittable pitch they've ever seen.

 

i saw podsednik do something yesterday that juan pierre just doesn't do very much--take strike 3 in back-to-back at-bats. in pods's 3rd AB, he took 3 straight pitches after getting down in the count 1-2, the first 2 were very close (many conventional minds would have said that they were "too close to take") but they weren't something he'd decided that he could have hit very hard. so instead of flailing at borderline pitches that he probably would have just grounded to the left side, he took them, made zambrano work harder, and nearly got to first to show for it.

 

those AB's may have been pathetic to some, but they were absolute things of beauty to me. that is what a lead-off man is supposed to do, and it appears that pods has dicovered it it in the past season or two. pierre needs to discover that you must make a pitcher throw you YOUR pitch, not his. if you don't get YOUR pitch, you either walk to first base or you don't--it's not often that a pitcher can consistently be in the strike zone and not give you a picth to hit. rickey henderson was the most amazing player at making a pitcher come to him, and never giving in, never going out of a very small zone to swing at an errant pitch.

 

the "aggressiveness" approach needs to go. baseball is a cerebral sport, not an adrenal one.

[goonys evil twin]

FYI, Cubs hitters on a 3-2 count, .188 .392 .291, their opposition is hitting .196 .469 .348.

 

ChiSox are hitting .223 .490 .427 on a full count. STL is .245 .476 .427.

[Magnetic Curses]

FYI, Cubs hitters on a 3-2 count, .188 .392 .291, their opposition is hitting .196 .469 .348.

 

ChiSox are hitting .223 .490 .427 on a full count. STL is .245 .476 .427.

 

what is league average?

[BigbadB]

The more interesting stat for 3-2 is how many times has each team reached a 3-2 count?

[goonys evil twin]

The more interesting stat for 3-2 is how many times has each team reached a 3-2 count?

 

Cubs, 117 AB, 40 BB

 

Opposiiton 158 AB, 81 BB

 

Sox, 157 AB, 82 BB

 

Cards, 143 AB, 62 BB

[SAMMYWHO]

The best at bat is fighting off the pitcher's pitch until he gives you your pitch. I agree with Sulley in that Pods waits for his pitch because he knows what he can and cannot handle but you can't always assume the ump won't call the borderline pitch a strike. It's a tough situation in that I think Cubs batters just have to battle a little smarter. Pick their pitch like Sulley said and drive it. Like Pierre for example, if he would pull a ball once a week it would help him in the long run make the defense defend the whole field.