Discipline

[TruffleShuffle]

Examples of improved patience... columns are as follows:

 

1. O-swing% = Percentage of pitches outside the zone that the batter swings at.

2. Z-swing% = Percentage of pitches within the strike zone that the batter swings at

3. Swing% = Percentage of pitches that the batter swings at

4. O-contact% = Percentage of pitches swung at outside the zone that the batter puts into play

5. Z=contact% = Percentage of pitches swung at within the zone that the batter puts into play

6. Contact% = Percentage of swings where the batter makes contact? (or puts into play?)

7. Zone% = Percentage of pitches seen by the batter that are within the strike zone

 

DeRosa:

2007: 19.45 % 71.28 % 45.85 % 57.48 % 89.07 % 82.49 % 50.94 %

2008: 16.97 % 62.50 % 40.18 % 51.06 % 80.56 % 74.45 % 50.97 %

 

Theriot:

2007: 21.07 % 57.34 % 40.58 % 81.59 % 95.60 % 92.24 % 53.80 %

2008: 17.12 % 55.77 % 38.31 % 72.73 % 97.70 % 92.66 % 54.83 %

 

ARam:

2007: 30.76 % 72.92 % 51.58 % 65.59 % 93.18 % 84.85 % 49.37 %

2008: 24.32 % 71.33 % 47.71 % 58.33 % 86.12 % 79.00 % 49.75 %

 

 

Interestingly, another facet of what the guys above have been doing this year is putting fewer bad pitches (and therefore probably bad swings) into play. Maybe that is part of Perry's philosophy, when you aren't going to be able to do something productive with a tough pitch, just foul it off and wait for an easier one to hit. Who knows. This stuff is fascinating though.

[David]

Sad thing is, Soriano could move into true superstar territory if he could get the hang of this stuff. With his talent, he'd be an elite hitter.

 

Then again, maybe he just doesn't have the ability to read pitches well enough...

[Banghart]

To be quite honest, I don't understand why columnists arent interviewing Perry more and giving him kudos for the job hes done here.

I am going to guess because the hitting coach normally isn't a topic of conversation unless the offense is sputtering, and then the conversation is when is the hitting coach going to be fired. I agree though that I love watching this Cubs offense, and Loue and Perry deserve credit for the turnaround.

[brinoch]

As of today, the Cubs lead MLB in OBP (.373) and Runs (234). Gee, Jim, there's no connection between scoring runs and getting on-base. How many years did we suffer because of flawed analysis like:

 

"If you look at it objectively, he was sixth in the game in slugging percentage of people who struck out more than 120 times."

[Jehrico]

To be quite honest, I don't understand why columnists arent interviewing Perry more and giving him kudos for the job hes done here.

I am going to guess because the hitting coach normally isn't a topic of conversation unless the offense is sputtering, and then the conversation is when is the hitting coach going to be fired. I agree though that I love watching this Cubs offense, and Loue and Perry deserve credit for the turnaround.

I don't know about that. The same logic should apply to the pitching coach, yet Rothschild is in the media much more. Maybe Perry just isn't a good interview or something like that. Kind of like Soriano, ever notice how Soto, Lee and others get interviewed alot but they never talk to Fonzie? Either they don't like interviewing him, or he's dumb as a box of rocks so they just leave him alone.

[CubColtPacer]

To be quite honest, I don't understand why columnists arent interviewing Perry more and giving him kudos for the job hes done here.

I am going to guess because the hitting coach normally isn't a topic of conversation unless the offense is sputtering, and then the conversation is when is the hitting coach going to be fired. I agree though that I love watching this Cubs offense, and Loue and Perry deserve credit for the turnaround.

I don't know about that. The same logic should apply to the pitching coach, yet Rothschild is in the media much more. Maybe Perry just isn't a good interview or something like that. Kind of like Soriano, ever notice how Soto, Lee and others get interviewed alot but they never talk to Fonzie? Either they don't like interviewing him, or he's dumb as a box of rocks so they just leave him alone.

 

It's not really either. It's mostly because he's really, really hard to understand, so that hurts his TV interviews quite a bit. I've seen quotes from him more in print, but I've noticed they're usually talking about him when that's the case, and tend to go to the 4 "spokesmen" of the team (Lee, Z, DeRosa, Theriot) when they have a team issue and are looking for a quote.

 

As for Perry and Rothschild, part of that is just the nature of a hitting coach and pitching coach. Hitters tend to be viewed as going through slumps that they themselves have to work through, and pitchers have mechanical issues that you run to the pitching coach to get a quote from. Add to that Lou has been much more high-profile in working personally with certain hitters (Jones, Pie to name 2) while he knows much less about how to fix pitchers, and Perry can get lost in the shuffle sometimes.

[Backtobanks]

Credit should go a little bit all around here.

 

Perry...for working with some of the players and getting them to be more patient.

 

Lou..for hiring Perry, and emphasizing OBP from day 1

 

Hendry..for adding hitters like DeRosa and Fukudome to balance out some of the Soriano's on the squad.

 

Hey, be careful giving credit to Hendry because the Hendry-haters will come after you.

[SouthSideRyan]

Credit should go a little bit all around here.

 

Perry...for working with some of the players and getting them to be more patient.

 

Lou..for hiring Perry, and emphasizing OBP from day 1

 

Hendry..for adding hitters like DeRosa and Fukudome to balance out some of the Soriano's on the squad.

 

Hey, be careful giving credit to Hendry because the Hendry-haters will come after you.

 

Yeah, CCP has been just ridiculed those 3 days that post has been sitting out there.