Rizzo

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

the argument you chose for rizzo over abreu was 0.2 of fWAR?

 

http://i.imgur.com/ZH29r9P.gif

[Guest]

The Chicago media is gushing over Abreu because he doesn't have a tiny face.

[Sammy Sofa]

Plus he's hitting a [expletive]-ton of home runs. Is it really THAT surprising that they're focusing on that instead of Rizzo? It's sports journalism, for God's sake; what do you expect?

[Sammy Sofa]

The Chicago media is gushing over Abreu because he doesn't have a tiny face.

 

I completely forgot that Rizzo had cancer and when it was pointed out to me today I suddenly felt really bad about the whole tinyface thing.

 

I hate feeling like that. Fuckin' Rizzo.

[jersey cubs fan]

The Chicago media is gushing over Abreu because he doesn't have a tiny face.

 

I completely forgot that Rizzo had cancer and when it was pointed out to me today I suddenly felt really bad about the whole tinyface thing.

 

I hate feeling like that. [expletive]' Rizzo.

He didn't have face cancer.

[Sammy Sofa]

The Chicago media is gushing over Abreu because he doesn't have a tiny face.

 

I completely forgot that Rizzo had cancer and when it was pointed out to me today I suddenly felt really bad about the whole tinyface thing.

 

I hate feeling like that. [expletive]' Rizzo.

He didn't have face cancer.

 

But still; cancer.

[jersey cubs fan]

Plus he's hitting a [expletive] of home runs. Is it really THAT surprising that they're focusing on that instead of Rizzo? It's sports journalism, for God's sake; what do you expect?

 

Abreu is also "the new guy" while Rizzo has now been around for quite a while in Chicago, and all of that time has been for a team that loses a lot of freaking baseball games. Abreu plays for a team that has been surprisingly competitive this year and actually above .500 as recent as last week.

[Guest]

The Chicago media is gushing over Abreu because he doesn't have a tiny face.

 

I completely forgot that Rizzo had cancer and when it was pointed out to me today I suddenly felt really bad about the whole tinyface thing.

 

I hate feeling like that. [expletive]' Rizzo.

 

You should feel bad.

[Guest]

The Chicago media is gushing over Abreu because he doesn't have a tiny face.

 

I completely forgot that Rizzo had cancer and when it was pointed out to me today I suddenly felt really bad about the whole tinyface thing.

 

I hate feeling like that. [expletive]' Rizzo.

 

I always feel compelled to bring it up but I figured you were well aware and are just the worst person ever.

[Sammy Sofa]

Plus he's hitting a [expletive] of home runs. Is it really THAT surprising that they're focusing on that instead of Rizzo? It's sports journalism, for God's sake; what do you expect?

 

Abreu is also "the new guy" while Rizzo has now been around for quite a while in Chicago, and all of that time has been for a team that loses a lot of freaking baseball games.

 

And had the perception of being a disappointment last year. Like you said, Abreu is the sexy Cuban rookie on the heels of the big story Puig has been and still is. Rizzo's just some dude on a shitty team.

[Sammy Sofa]

The Chicago media is gushing over Abreu because he doesn't have a tiny face.

 

I completely forgot that Rizzo had cancer and when it was pointed out to me today I suddenly felt really bad about the whole tinyface thing.

 

I hate feeling like that. [expletive]' Rizzo.

 

I always feel compelled to bring it up but I figured you were well aware and are just the worst person ever.

 

I AM horrible, which is why the regret I feel over mocking him makes me dislike him even more.

[jersey cubs fan]

The Chicago media is gushing over Abreu because he doesn't have a tiny face.

 

I completely forgot that Rizzo had cancer and when it was pointed out to me today I suddenly felt really bad about the whole tinyface thing.

 

I hate feeling like that. [expletive]' Rizzo.

He didn't have face cancer.

 

But still; cancer.

A lot of terrible people have had cancer. For all we know he faked it to get out of trouble when he asked his girlfriend to stop hanging around minorities.

[treebird]

i bet he used to have a really normal face and the cancer took it from him

[Guest]

i bet he used to have a really normal face and the cancer took it from him

 

The real victim here is mojo because Rizzo is forcing him to feel bad.

[Sammy Sofa]

i bet he used to have a really normal face and the cancer took it from him

 

The real victim here is mojo because Rizzo is forcing him to feel bad.

 

Thank you.

 

Plus what he went through finding out his dad was the Maniac Cop. That's rough.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

Don't worry, N&G, Rizzo had the good Hodgkin's.

[Guest]

Don't worry, N&G, Rizzo had the good Hodgkin's.

 

Still remember WSR not getting that in the thread about the Rizzo/Cashner trade.

Edited May 5, 2014 by David

[Sammy Sofa]

Don't worry, N&G, Rizzo had the good Hodgkin's.

 

Still remember WSR not getting that in the thread about the Rizzo/Cashner thread.

 

Hahahahahahhaah!

[MWV]

his dad was the Maniac Cop. That's rough.

Robert Z'Dar jokes are making your bizarre crusade almost bearable.

[Geech]

the argument you chose for rizzo over abreu was 0.2 of fWAR?

 

I think the argument he actually used is more accurately summed up as "younger, cheaper, and just as good so far".

[North]

Abreu has been awesome, but we always want to look at what's next. That's all we care about anyways.

 

The issue with Abreu is that while his current run of success gives us glimpses of his strong skill sets, it also has given us some insight on potential concerns. When predicting prospective performances, there are a few factors that are involved. First, contact %. There is a correlation of .4 of contact % to batting average. It's a moderate correlation, and it gives us insight to what we might expect in forthcoming samples. With a 70.7% contact %, most players who exhibit that low of contact usually bat in the low .200s. See, for example, Adam Dunn (70.8%). Another confounding issue with Abreu right now is his willingness to swing the bat outside the zone. At about 40%, that's 10% above league average. So not only do we have a player that can't hit the ball that much, we have a player who is swinging the baseball bat too much at bad pitches. His power, though, is absolutely for real. But a 36% HR/FB is not sustainable no matter who you are. If he sustains this rate, he'd bypass Barry Bond's rate of 29% when he hit magical 73.

 

Abreu is going to make adjustments, just like all players eventually end up doing. He'll get better as he sees more pitching. But up until this point, there are weaknesses in his game that can mask his overall potential in a much larger sample size. We can go ahead and assume he makes adjustments, but these adjustments need to be significant. He needs to make more contact, see more pitches, and swing at better pitches. Rizzo, on the other hand, is off to a better start than Abreu with peripherals that appear to be more sustainable.

 

The adjustment he needs to make is laying off pitches down and away: http://www.brooksbaseball.net/plot_h_profile.php?s_type=13&gFilt=&pFilt=FA|SI|FC|CU|SL|CS|KN|CH|FS|SB&time=month&player=547989&startDate=03/30/2007&endDate=05/06/2014&minmax=ci&var=whiff&balls=-1&strikes=-1&b_hand=-1

 

Who is better? That's easy. It's the more predictable one. He has a small face.

[Guest]

That's without even getting into the canyon between their defensive abilities.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

does contact percentage only count balls in play?

[Sammy Sofa]

Yeah, but who is or was legitimately arguing that Abreu is better overall? The question basically was "why is the local sports press going nuts over him and essentially ignoring Rizzo?" That should have been painfully obvious even before it was brought up.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

does contact percentage only count balls in play?

 

No. It includes BIP, home runs and foul balls.