I dislike Maddon, but...

[tdawg87]

His hilariously stupid fucking shenanigans have (currently) worked for Justin Upton. 

Since moving to the leadoff spot, Upton's slash line is:

.316/.386/.632 in 44 PA's. That's a leadoff hitter.

Gotta give credit where it's due. 

Maddon still sucks, though.

[Angels in 2030]

Upton at lead off is idiotic.  And yet, it’s worked out fantastic so far.

[Stradling]

Justin Upton is a completely different player when he thinks right center. 

[PattyD22]

Absolutely Strad.  I mentioned this yesterday in the GDT, when he takes the approach of center/right center, he’s a completely lethal hitter.  He was using that approach all Spring Training, and he was tearing the cover off the ball.

Like golf, hitters can develop bad habits and they usually happen a little at a time, until they become a serious issue.  Hitters, like golfers, can fall in love with distance, swing angles, pulling the ball, etc.

Once he tweaks his mental approach, he’s a completely different hitter altogether.

[tdawg87]

41 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Justin Upton is a completely different player when he thinks right center. 

He's got a 107 OPS+

He's contributing. But nobody is giving him any credit.

[Docwaukee]

Upton has always been streaky and when he's going well you'll see that right CF approach.  Did moving him to leadoff kick that into gear or is he just going through his normal cycle?  Maybe a bit of both but it's certainly working.  Did taking some pressure off of having to be a 'run producer' help?  Maybe a bit of that as well where he's just being asked to get on base. 

It's been almost a couple weeks now and normally he'll have a hot two weeks to a month.  Hopefully, it will be a bit more sustainable if he continues his current approach.  

Maybe they should have put Albert in the leadoff spot when he was here because like JUp, he's a different hitter when he focuses on hitting the ball the other way instead of trying to cheat pull everything.  

[eligrba]

11 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

Maybe they should have put Albert in the leadoff spot when he was here because like JUp, he's a different hitter when he focuses on hitting the ball the other way instead of trying to cheat pull everything. 

[tdawg87]

Maddon 100% considered putting Albert at leadoff.

I have zero evidence of this but you know he did.

[eligrba]

Also dropping Fletcher out of the leadoff spot seems to have helped him.

[tdawg87]

Just now, eligrba said:

Also dropping Fletcher out of the leadoff spot seems to have helped him.

Alright let's not start giving Maddon too much credit.

He's been barely better hitting 9th.

[UndertheHalo]

My main thought on this is that Upton is very streaky and we’ll see how long this holds up.  Overall, he’s been a contributor this year.  Defense has been solid enough as well. 

[Lou]

While still not great, Fletcher's OPS is 106 points higher when batting 9th than when he was batting 1st. 

He also has the same number of walks in 101 less PAs.

 

[Reveille1984]

12 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Alright let's not start giving Maddon too much credit.

He's been barely better hitting 9th.

I don't know what our deal is this year with patience at the plate, but the last two seasons we were towards the top of the league in BB% and this year we're dead last.  I'm sure a massive chunk of that is Trout not being in the lineup, but Fletcher has basically halved his walk rate in 2021 compared to the last two seasons.  The guy seems insistent on making contact with everything and it's totally sapping his (already below average) power and the way pitchers approach him.

[UndertheHalo]

11 minutes ago, Lou said:

While still not great, Fletcher's OPS is 106 points higher when batting 9th than when he was batting 1st. 

He also has the same number of walks in 101 less PAs.

 

Upton has legitimately been quite a bit better than Fletcher this year. 

[Docwaukee]

11 minutes ago, Lou said:

While still not great, Fletcher's OPS is 106 points higher when batting 9th than when he was batting 1st. 

He also has the same number of walks in 101 less PAs.

 

I hate the notion that Fletcher needs to be a 'contact' guy.  His contact actually sucks.  He doesn't hit the ball hard and the more he puts the ball in play, the poorer the results are gonna be.  Dude needs to walk 60 times and strike out 70 or less.  

BTW, great line from Ben Clemens from last year when Fletch doubled on a pitch above his eyes:

First of all, wow! Are you kidding me? That ball was nearly five feet off the ground. Halfway to home plate, it was unclear whether Fletcher was taking a swing at a major league pitch or a piñata:

[Reveille1984]

Fletcher's also getting a lot more strikes thrown at him this year (over 3% higher than last season) which might somewhat explain the lower walk rate, but he just isn't doing anything dangerous with them (5% higher soft contact rate, and hard hit rate of freaking 11%!!!).  Not sure if it's a mechanics issue or what since that's obviously above my pay grade.

Until he starts punishing the huge amount of pitches he's getting in the zone, there's no reason to pitch around him since he never punishes mistakes.

[eligrba]

1 hour ago, Reveille1984 said:

Fletcher's also getting a lot more strikes thrown at him this year (over 3% higher than last season) which might somewhat explain the lower walk rate, but he just isn't doing anything dangerous with them (5% higher soft contact rate, and hard hit rate of freaking 11%!!!).  Not sure if it's a mechanics issue or what since that's obviously above my pay grade.

Until he starts punishing the huge amount of pitches he's getting in the zone, there's no reason to pitch around him since he never punishes mistakes.

I'm not sure Fletcher is swinging at strikes,  which is part of his problem. 

[WicketMaiden]

2 hours ago, Lou said:

While still not great, Fletcher's OPS is 106 points higher when batting 9th than when he was batting 1st. 

He also has the same number of walks in 101 less PAs.

 

Fewer

[Stradling]

6 minutes ago, WicketMaiden said:

Fewer

Bruin

[Slegnaac]

2 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

Maddon 100% considered putting Albert at leadoff.

I have zero evidence of this but you know he did.

We all know this was not possible due to the contract clause about batting order.....

[Inside Pitch]

5 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

His hilariously stupid fucking shenanigans have (currently) worked for Justin Upton. 

Since moving to the leadoff spot, Upton's slash line is:

.316/.386/.632 in 44 PA's. That's a leadoff hitter.

Gotta give credit where it's due. 

Maddon still sucks, though.

Ha -- I was going to say something similar... But more so saying that his tendency to sit him at times seems to have shorted those Upton slumps he's famous for.

[Inside Pitch]

4 hours ago, tdawg87 said:

He's got a 107 OPS+

He's contributing. But nobody is giving him any credit.

Imagine what that .219/.302/.464 would translate to OPS+ wise if Angel stadium was playing more to it's history instead of the 108 park index it's been good for.

 

[Docwaukee]

4 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Imagine what that .219/.302/.464 would translate to OPS+ wise if Angel stadium was playing more to it's history instead of the 108 park index it's been good for.

 

now you've done it.  Zodiac Killer incoming.  

[tdawg87]

5 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

now you've done it.  Zodiac Killer incoming.  

Good. I feel like watching a murder today.

[Docwaukee]

3 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Good. I feel like watching a murder today.

I feel like @Inside Pitch is gonna get the case thrown out due to entrapment.