Author Topic: Pitching wins ballgames  (Read 2210 times)

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Offline tomterp

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Re: Pitching wins ballgames
« Reply #25: May 21, 2008, 09:30:40 AM »
But we're only  scoring 3.85 runs per game --  25th in MLB and 14th in the NL. If all we had was a midddle-of-the-pack offense (Florida and Atlanta fall in the middle of the NL curve)  we'd be scoring 5 runs per game.


Baseball Prospectus has some advanced analytics, that show us dead last in MLB in offensive production.

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: Pitching wins ballgames
« Reply #26: May 21, 2008, 09:58:14 AM »
Actually pitching will win you ballgames even with below average offenses.  :P  Pitching is by far the most important aspect of the game. The better hitters aren't expected to get more than 1 to 2 hits per game on average, and that depends alot on the matchup. A great pitching performance will shut an offense down, thus limiting the ABs for everyone. So your best hitter may only get a few chances to hit during a superbly pitched game. Over nine innings that's little involvement compared to the pitcher touching the ball a hundred times a game.

The better offenses are those that from top to bottom have consistent quality at bats that are coordinated to work together in order to maximize pitch counts and OBP. (For instance, Dmitri Young rarely squanders his at bats, and has some of the smarter, most unselfish ABs on the team.)

Missed last night's game, but on Monday, Dmitri swung at garbage and looked like a big bowl of crap. Granted it's a small sample, but he was just awful.

MrMadison

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Re: Pitching wins ballgames
« Reply #27: May 21, 2008, 12:27:09 PM »
I agree with Don Sutton.

Pitching doesn't WIN ballgames. Pitching keeps you from LOSING ballgames.

Pitching won't put runs on the board, and you can't win if you don't score.

Re: Pitching wins ballgames
« Reply #28: May 21, 2008, 12:28:57 PM »
I think pitching AND offense wins you ballgames. We hardly have both show up at the same time.

Offline sportsfan882

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Re: Pitching wins ballgames
« Reply #29: May 21, 2008, 12:29:05 PM »
I agree with Don Sutton.

Pitching doesn't WIN ballgames. Pitching keeps you from LOSING ballgames.

Pitching won't put runs on the board, and you can't win if you don't score.

QFT. Our pitching has been good enough for us to be over .500. 

Offline tomterp

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Re: Pitching wins ballgames
« Reply #30: May 21, 2008, 01:57:29 PM »
I agree with Don Sutton.

Pitching doesn't WIN ballgames. Pitching keeps you from LOSING ballgames.

Pitching won't put runs on the board, and you can't win if you don't score.


QFT.

Nobody ever won a game without scoring.

Offline arlington

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Re: Pitching wins ballgames
« Reply #31: May 21, 2008, 01:58:25 PM »
Two of Young's at bats on Monday night produced runs.  Only one other batter in the entire game had an at bat that produced any runs.

Other than striking out with the bases loaded (and no one out when you can try to get a big hit instead of needing to "just get a hit"), what was garbage about Young's at bats on Monday night? 

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: Pitching wins ballgames
« Reply #32: May 21, 2008, 02:16:33 PM »
Two of Young's at bats on Monday night produced runs.  Only one other batter in the entire game had an at bat that produced any runs.

Other than striking out with the bases loaded (and no one out when you can try to get a big hit instead of needing to "just get a hit"), what was garbage about Young's at bats on Monday night? 

GIDP with the bases loaded is not producing runs - he just needed to make contact past the pitcher to get a score. That's not even counted as RBI's. His strikeout looked like he wasn't even trying.

Offline houston-nat

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Re: Pitching wins ballgames
« Reply #33: May 21, 2008, 03:32:35 PM »
QFT. Our pitching has been good enough for us to be over .500. 
Our pitching has been good enough for us to be first in the NL East. Case in point: over the last ten games we've allowed the other team to score a total of 31 runs, which translates to 3.1 a game (obviously). And when you subtract Perez' lousy outing last Saturday from the total, our pitching staff's combined ERA over that stretch drops to an astounding 2.64. Last night our bullpen allowed a run for the first time in 13+ innings.

Offline sportsfan882

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Re: Pitching wins ballgames
« Reply #34: May 21, 2008, 03:41:48 PM »
Our pitching has been good enough for us to be first in the NL East. Case in point: over the last ten games we've allowed the other team to score a total of 31 runs, which translates to 3.1 a game (obviously). And when you subtract Perez' lousy outing last Saturday from the total, our pitching staff's combined ERA over that stretch drops to an astounding 2.64. Last night our bullpen allowed a run for the first time in 13+ innings.
I agree. It just kills me that our offense is so bad. We should at or near first place in the division right now. Our hitting has been bad every year but our incompetence at the plate this year takes the cake.

Offline wpa2629

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Re: Pitching wins ballgames
« Reply #35: May 21, 2008, 03:47:55 PM »
I agree. It just kills me that our offense is so bad. We should at or near first place in the division right now. Our hitting has been bad every year but our incompetence at the plate this year takes the cake.

It's frustrating -- it is -- but isn't it much more likely that the bats wake up - I mean it can't get worse -- the biggest issue for any major league club is pitching -- for all intents and purposes, we've got that covered - in general - it's way easier for bats to get better than it is for pitching to get better ... so ... that gives me hope -- if our problem was flip flopped - bad pitching and good hitting - I think that would be a much more difficult problem to fix . ... Our pitching is amazing -- it's so great to watch -- come on guys -- please start hitting!

Offline arlington

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Re: Pitching wins ballgames
« Reply #36: May 21, 2008, 05:05:30 PM »
striking out swinging is hardly not even trying.

I guess the 4th run should have been given back, since it was produced on a double play.  Since most Nats hitters don't seem to be able to score the runner from 3rd with no outs, that double play ball was one of the more productive at bats the Nats have had  this past week. 

Offline shoeshineboy

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Re: Pitching wins ballgames
« Reply #37: May 21, 2008, 05:27:20 PM »
striking out swinging is hardly not even trying.

I guess the 4th run should have been given back, since it was produced on a double play.  Since most Nats hitters don't seem to be able to score the runner from 3rd with no outs, that double play ball was one of the more productive at bats the Nats have had  this past week. 

Dmitri should get a lot of kudos for having smart, unselfish at bats. He didn't get the RBI, because he hit into a DP, but he was responsible for 2 runs being knocked home without a hit to show for it. Why? Because, he is conscious of the situation and not trying to do too much. Both that play and the line drive to the CFer could have dropped for hits if lucky, but results were still ok because DY looks to hit the type of balls that have the best chance of resulting in something positive even if he gets out.  He knows when the goal is to look for something he can simply elevate; he knows he needs to look opposite field or simply hit something hard; and he knows when it is good to simply look to smack something into the ground to create a high chopper guaranteed to move the runner or allow the man on third to easily score.

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: Pitching wins ballgames
« Reply #38: May 21, 2008, 08:56:10 PM »
striking out swinging is hardly not even trying.

I guess the 4th run should have been given back, since it was produced on a double play.  Since most Nats hitters don't seem to be able to score the runner from 3rd with no outs, that double play ball was one of the more productive at bats the Nats have had  this past week. 

Striking out with a girly half swing at a bad pitch is crappy.