"Intangibles"

There's a little known thing about baseball that some people say is meaningless, while others call the most important.  I'm one of the latter.  That one thing is actually a lot of things from good base-running to moving base-runners over to having quality ABs.  I often refer to them as the intangibles because their stat-less feats that make a significant difference.  In this post I'm going to review some of these things and their importance in the game and why Melvin is doing what he can to improve these, and what he's doing that contradicts this philosophy.

Base-running:  I'm not talking base-stealing or outright speed.  I'm referring to the intelligence behind it.  For example, getting from first to third on a single.  This takes a lot of experience, knowledge of where the ball is going, who is going to field the ball and most importantly, who how fast you run and how well you approach the base.  Baseball Prospectus has an array of stats that discuss the best base-runners in the league, and I agree with the idea, but I want to look at it more cognitively than quantitatively.

When you watch someone like JJ Hardy on the bases, you tend to cringe.  He seems to be unsure and approaches everything on what looks like a lot of instinct more than anything.  I don't mind this, but he cost us a number of runs this year because he missed a base or didn't hustle down the line to try and snag a double.  Rickie Weeks, on the other hand, is the perfect example of a guy who just goes.  It's not always the best decision, but he is often able to jump from first to third on a groundball up the middle, even a line drive to left center.  Mind you, his speed does play a roll in this ability, but not its not the whole story.  He always seems to get ahead of other guys by his first two steps.

Doug Melvin has done something in this area with the acquisition of Mike Cameron.  He's added a base-stealer and a guy who has the legs and eyes to make the turn at second, force a throw and wreak havoc on the other team's outfielders.  While his SO numbers are too high to put him in the 2 hole, Mike Cameron makes an excellent addition to the 5 or 6 holes.  As long as there's a contact hitter like Jason Kendall behind him, we'll be able to move runners into position better than last year.

So let's think about this for a second.  It's not brain surgery.  If you have a runner on 3rd with less than 2 outs, you have a higher percentage to get that run in than if that runner is at 2nd base.  Good teams make this work.  Just think about the Angels last year.  They weren't necessarily spectacular, but they got the extra runs when they needed it.

Quality ABs:   That situation leads me right to Quality ABs, something that I think really destroyed this team last year.  I couldn't count the times we had a runner at 3rd base or 2nd base with less than two outs, and we were unable to move that runner.  I wish I could locate some kind of percentage to put this into perspective.  So let us look at it in a really simplistic and basic fashion.  It comes down to this:  If you swing at a ball in the zone you are much more likely to make contact, and good contact at that, than if you were to swing at a ball out of the zone.  Pop outs and spiked ground balls are often the result of non-level swings out of the zone.  Oh, and might I add SOs, which was a huge flaw on this team last year, especially for Ryan Braun and Bill Hall.

But wait, it gets better.  This is a simple game.  You should and will hit better if you're ahead in the count.  You're much likely to get a pitch in the zone and the pitcher may even take something off it to get a little better accuracy.  So, if you can take a pitch, the results will come.  Gabe Gross and Rickie Weeks are phenomenal examples of this intangible trait.  People whined and complained about Weeks at the beginning of the year, but it wasn't until his plate discipline wavered that they decided to send them down.  Gabe Gross is not an every day player.  His numbers against lefties are pitiful, and his defense leaves much to be desired, but he can take a pitch better than anyone on this team.

So what did Doug Melvin do to remedy this?  His name: Jason Kendall.  The dude doesn't strikeout, but he grounds into a lot of DPs.  But I tell you what, if we need a pinch hitter in a one run game, I wouldn't mind see him coming to the plate.  At least he'll give us a shot to bring the run in.

On the other hand, Melvin brought in Mike Cameron, a free swinging undisciplined hitter, who strikes out with the best of them.  I guess it's a give and take, but at least we don't have to waste our time watching fatty boom batty Estrada SO and run anymore.  I still like Estrada, but I'm slowly realizing he didn't do enough to overcome his flaws.

There are plenty more, and as I write this, I realize it's getting to long.  So I'm going to leave some of these topics for other posts, to keep myself into baseball.  The longer I let these thoughts settle, the better I'll be able to relay them.

Let me hear you guys!  What do you think is the most important intangible that is not reflected in the stat book?