Walks

[EhDubya]

The Cubs are dead last in MLB with 264 total BB. The Yankees are first with 421 and BoSox have 415.

 

This stat does not shock me like it probably should. Bring up Vitters, he'll fit right in!

[apete6]

A very telling stat.

 

Also, the Yankees swept the White Sox in a 4 game series without issuing a walk. First time since 1968 and only the 3rd time since 1900 anyone has done it in baseball!

[CubColtPacer]

The Cubs will probably be worse in the walks category than they are in other offensive categories again in 2012 because players like Castro and Byrd are productive players that don't walk much. If Barney is back at 2B next year, he won't hurt the Cubs a great deal overall but doesn't walk much either. Soriano's another player who is mildly productive without walking. If the Cubs add somebody like Fielder, I could see them having an offense that is ranked 5th or 6th while only being around 12th-13th in the NL in walks. But it's definitely going to be hard for them to be much better than they are this year (exactly average 8th-9th in the league) if they continue to be dead last in walks.

[Guest]

The bench is absolutely killing them in this regard. 498 PA's between Johnson, DeWitt, and Baker. 13 walks.

[Derwood]

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2010/0823/chi_ap_baker_piniella1_300.jpg

[UMFan83]

The Cubs will probably be worse in the walks category than they are in other offensive categories again in 2012 because players like Castro and Byrd are productive players that don't walk much. If Barney is back at 2B next year, he won't hurt the Cubs a great deal overall but doesn't walk much either. Soriano's another player who is mildly productive without walking. If the Cubs add somebody like Fielder, I could see them having an offense that is ranked 5th or 6th while only being around 12th-13th in the NL in walks. But it's definitely going to be hard for them to be much better than they are this year (exactly average 8th-9th in the league) if they continue to be dead last in walks.

 

Especially without our best walker in Fukudome. We need to overhaul the offense if we want the best chance to contend.

 

Just for fun, here is our league ranking in walks during the Jim Hendry era:

 

03: 21st

04: 25th

05: 28th

06: 30th

07: 26th

08: 2nd

09: 9th

10: 22nd

11: 30th

 

7 out of the 9 years we've been in the bottom 3rd of the league, and 5 out of 9 years we've been in the bottom 5.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I could be sompletely wrong on this, and I sometimes, often am, but I remember hearing at one point that Rudy Jaramillos philosophy was built around an overly agressive approach at the plate.

[Post Count Padder]

It doesn't help that Soriano is a free swinger, Castro is young and aggressive at the plate and Barney and Colvin didn't walk in the minors either. Soto and Pena are our only hitters that seemingly know you can take more than one pitch in an at bat.

[davearm2]

The Cubs are dead last in MLB with 264 total BB. The Yankees are first with 421 and BoSox have 415.

 

This stat does not shock me like it probably should. Bring up Vitters, he'll fit right in!

To be fair, if you're a pitcher it's a helluva lot safer to pound the strikezone against the Cubs' lineup than the Yankees' or the Red Sox'.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

The Cubs are dead last in MLB with 264 total BB. The Yankees are first with 421 and BoSox have 415.

 

This stat does not shock me like it probably should. Bring up Vitters, he'll fit right in!

 

I agree that this is a problem.

[DiamondMind]

any coincidence our two best BB ratio teams were 2008 and 2009?

[Guest]

WALKS, WALKS, WALKS

[CyHawk_Cub]

WALKS, WALKS, WALKS

 

^^That was funny...but the post that made me scratch my head was the guy who strongly implied walks = fewer runs being scored.

[jersey cubs fan]

^^That was funny...but the post that made me scratch my head was the guy who strongly implied walks = fewer runs being scored

 

dusty?

[bukie]

On the flip side, the Cub pitchers have issued the most walks in the majors, by a good amount.

[Benchwarmer]

We have this discussion every year and they just don't seem to be able to work the counts and take pitches. With no speed and little interest in walking, we just seem to hack at everything.

[Sammy Sofa]

What does speed have to do with this?

[javy knows my name]

What does speed have to do with this?

 

Dammit, I glossed over that. I was thinking that he just made his first salient point, and I was in celebratory mode.

[TruffleShuffle]

What does speed have to do with this?

 

maybe that's why they don't like walking, because they walk slowly and it takes them too long to get to first base.

[MWV]

The Cubs are dead last in MLB with 264 total BB. The Yankees are first with 421 and BoSox have 415.

 

This stat does not shock me like it probably should. Bring up Vitters, he'll fit right in!

To be fair, if you're a pitcher it's a helluva lot safer to pound the strikezone against the Cubs' lineup than the Yankees' or the Red Sox'.

Looks like a little of both:

	      %St     %O-Z      %SwO-Z	PPA
Yankees  44.1	 55.9		 26.7    3.95
Bsox	  44.9	 55.1		 28.7	 3.98
Cubs 	 46.2	 53.8		 31.7	 3.76

Those numbers only include the top 8 players, PA-wise (This is in order to negate the effect of pitchers hitting, although taking the numbers for the roster as a whole reproduces very similar results). It appears that the Yanks and Sox see a few less pitches in the zone (St) than out of the zone (O-Z), but they also swing at fewer pitches outside the zone (SwO-Z) and see more pitches per PA.

[NewUserName]

What does speed have to do with this?

 

baseclogging dude

[dew1679666265]

08: 2nd

09: 9th

 

Lou Piniella's first two years. People seem to tend to disparage his tenure in Chicago due to his third season, but he was a really good manager for the first two.

[Guest]

I could be sompletely wrong on this, and I sometimes, often am, but I remember hearing at one point that Rudy Jaramillos philosophy was built around an overly agressive approach at the plate.

Jaramillo means taking an aggressive swing. He's a mechanics guy instead of an approach guy.

[Sammy Sofa]

08: 2nd

09: 9th

 

Lou Piniella's first two years. People seem to tend to disparage his tenure in Chicago due to his third season, but he was a really good manager for the first two.

 

Piniella and co. took over before the 2007 season.

 

I think a couple here have confused 2008 and 2009 for 2007 and 2008.

[dew1679666265]

Piniella and co. took over before the 2007 season.

 

I think a couple here have confused 2008 and 2009 for 2007 and 2008.

 

Yep, you're right. For some reason I was thinking Lou was here for 3 years instead of four.