Interesting Royals info in new Bill James Book

by gordonrules on Nov 11, 2008 12:29 AM EST Comment 35 comments

First a couple of things I found interesting in the new Bill James Handbook: He has the Royals as #5 in terms of young talent-behind only the Twins, Dbacks, Rays and Marlins. And this was before we obtained Jacobs, who by the way was one of the six good young players on the Marlins. From 06-08 +/- for first base, Ryan Shealy was tenth best with a +14, during this same time Jacobs was a -49 good for dead last.

I also found some stats from this past year interesting. Did anyone else notice Butler's platoon splits? He hit almost 100 points highter against lefties than righties, .340 to .244. He slugged nearly 600 against lefties ( 590)! Does anyone at this point think he should be platooned with Jacobs at DH or 1st? Or is he too young still to come to that conclusion? I would like to see what Shealy could do for a full year if he could manage to stay healthy.

Finally, I was wondering what everyone thought our starting outfield would be this coming year, just using the players we currently have. Would we stay with Guillen in lf, DDJ in center and Tbag in rf? Do we move Tbag out from starter to the bench? Do we put Gator in CF and move DDJ to LF with Guillen shifting to RF? Did Maier show enough that he could be in CF with DDJ in LF? Discuss.

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mike jacobs qualifies as a young player?

Is BJ starting to lose it?

TPJ...you're dead to me

by billybeingbilly on Nov 11, 2008 1:52 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

butler

It’s too early to start platooning him. If your looking for optimum results next year…then yea, you’d platoon him, but yea. I still think he’s traded, but hope not.

Butler = 1B
Jacobs = DH
Shealy = 40 or so starts, platoon type thing with Jacobs plus maybe some random starts at 1B. Power off the bench late in games. Ends up with 250+ AB’s.

That’s how I’d do it…but that’s just me. Kila waiting in AAA for an injury, or maybe a trade (assuming last year was not a fluke). I think that’d be quite productive too.

Rowdy Hardy Fan Club member.

by doublestix on Nov 11, 2008 2:39 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I think I've said this before...

but the absolute best platoon would be a combination of Butler, Shealy, Olivo and Jacobs at 1b/DH with Buck as the full time catcher.
Of course with Olivo being the full time catcher….

I refuse to set up a signature....DAMMIT

by RoyalPug on Nov 11, 2008 2:51 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Mark my words

given an equal number of PAs and platoon balance, Buck will be a more productive offensive player than Miguel Olivo next year.

OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG

by Matt Klaassen on Nov 11, 2008 10:41 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

how would you work out the playing time in the Jacobs/Shealy/Butler/Olivo

monster?

by Will McDonald on Nov 11, 2008 10:58 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Olivo never plays unless he's catching -- assuming I can't move him for a reliever or B- prospect or something

I’d do it just like Phil suggested — Billy plays every game. Against RHP, Butler at 1B, Jacobs at DH. Against LHP, Butler DH, Shealy at 1B.

its not rocket science

OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG

by Matt Klaassen on Nov 11, 2008 11:06 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm Not A

Rocket scientist, but I play on on blogs.

I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.

by philofthenorth on Nov 11, 2008 6:36 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

"one on"

I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.

by philofthenorth on Nov 11, 2008 8:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I see my mad typing skillz have caught on

or is that cot awn?

OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG

by Matt Klaassen on Nov 11, 2008 10:30 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

or cot one?

OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG

by Matt Klaassen on Nov 11, 2008 10:30 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

That's What..................

I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.

by philofthenorth on Nov 12, 2008 2:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Putting together a lineup could be difficult for a rocket scientist.

However, rocket science is easy for rocket scientists.

Don't Stop Believing!

by KC Chris on Nov 12, 2008 8:46 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

rocket science is never easy

by AngryJesus on Nov 16, 2008 10:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

No Way

Bucks numbers vs Lefties are below average and his numbers vs Righties are just as putrid as Olivo’s. Buck’s body is breaking down. He has fallen not only off a cliff the last two years but off of the early ages Flat Earth.

I’ll take Olivo’s power versus Lefties and toss whoever you wanna put back there against righties. If Hillman could borrow the scarecrows brain he would play Olivo against soft tossing righties and Buck versus hard throwing righties.

It takes 46 muscles to frown but only 4 to flip 'em the bird.

by kcscoliny on Nov 11, 2008 11:03 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Colin Wyers Marcels Projections

Olivo 0.251/0.291/0.426 wOBA 0.305

Buck 0.238/0.314/0.396 wOBA 0.311

OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG

by Matt Klaassen on Nov 11, 2008 11:09 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

How do you figure?

Olivo benefited from facing a higher number of LHP last year than he had in throughout his career. For his career up until 2008, he had 1409 ABs versus RHP and 477 ABs versus LHP. Almost a 3:1 ratio.

Last year he had 203 ABs versus RHP and 103 versus LHP. The ratio dropped from 3:1 to 2:1, but his OBP was still a brutal .278. If he’s truly the starter, he’s going to face a lot more RHP, making his offensive numbers ugly.

by Top Ramen on Nov 11, 2008 2:32 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

A lot of our key players hit lefties well

And we were pretty successful as a whole against them.

Butler, Guillen, and Olivo (am I leaving someone out?) all crushed lefties (Royals crushing). I think that is one of the reasons that Moore signed Jacobs, was to get a hitter who could really do well against righties to counter our lefty mashers.

by I need more Esteban on Nov 11, 2008 2:56 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

+1

It takes 46 muscles to frown but only 4 to flip 'em the bird.

by kcscoliny on Nov 11, 2008 3:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Love the platoon idea of platooning Shealy and Jacobs

I still don’t see why people are so opposed to DHing Butler full time. I know, I know – his value as a player but the kid can hit. Let’s get him in the lineup as often as possible. Jacobs can mash vs. RH. Butler could play 1B but we’ll see if he is worse than Jacobs.

by daveyork on Nov 11, 2008 5:00 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

honestly, i dont care if billy plays first or not full time...

as long as he gets his 600 PAs. He’s not so much of a butcher that if jose or someone is nicked up and needs to DH for a couple of days that billy cant play first…that being said, with where this team is at, theres no reason for billy to not be at 1b 140 times next year

TPJ...you're dead to me

by billybeingbilly on Nov 11, 2008 8:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Well, Jacobs will certainly give Billy a run for his money

He’s just like Adam Dunn…. except with slightly less power… none of the walks… and his -20 defense is at first, rather than left…

Hey, at least he’s almost exactly the same age as Dunn.

4/64 now!

OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG

by Matt Klaassen on Nov 11, 2008 10:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

From What I've

Seen and heard, Butler is better at 1B than Jacobs. Shealy is an above average fielder at 1B, so when Jacobs sits against LHP’s (and he should most all the time), Butler could DH and Shealy play 1B. I know I’ve posted this a few times, I just thought I’d explain the logic of the plan.

I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.

by philofthenorth on Nov 11, 2008 6:46 PM EST reply actions 0 recs