Author Topic: Ian Desmond Appreciation Thread  (Read 32821 times)

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Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Re: Ian Desmond Appreciation Thread
« Reply #225: July 02, 2012, 02:10:40 PM »
I'm not sure he deserves to be eating KC barbecue while Lowrie is breathing just about the most foul air in the country, but I'm happy with Desi's season and have said that when you are facing a fastball pitcher and we need contact to drive someone in, he may be the guy I'd like to have up.

You look at his offense, and his numbers are like his rookie year, except for the ones in red. 
2010 - .269 /.308 /  .392, 10 HR (season), .308 wOBA, 4.9 BB%, 19.0 K%, .317 BABIP, 17 SB (season)
2012  -.276 /.308 /  ..484, 13 HR (<1/2 season), .340 wOBA, 4.4 BB%, 19.5 K%, .311 BABIP, 8 SB (<1/2 season)

yes, the red stands out.  He grew into his power at age 27.  Other than that, he is fundamentally the same hitter he always was.  The consistency in BABIP shows this isn't flukey.  The power potential was always there, and good for Davey to help him bring it out when he took over last year.  The RBIs have followed with the power.  He was tremendously miscast as a leadoff hitter.  This guy should be a fixture in the #6 spot (or maybe the #3 spot at times), and we can dream of the days when the line up is filled with enough good hitters to make him a #7 guy.

The other huge improvement (also reflected in his stats) is his defense.  There's no question he his arm and hands cost the team a lot of runs the past few years, and that his defense was below average.  This year, if you buy UZR/150, he may be 15 runs better than in the past.  Strange we all see the improvement in defense, but that the one metric that does not show it is traditional fielding percentage.  In this case, the advanced stats back up the eyes.