Howie Kendrick

[Hubs]

you forgot about zobrist. 

Zobrist is not a full-time second baseman, he's played less than 300 career starts at 2nd. Last year he started 46 games there, 118 the year before, and 45 in 2010. 

 

Zobrist is no doubt talented, but his 2009 season (which was outstanding) is not a good representation of the hitter he has been since.

 

Still, Cano, Pedoria, Kinsler, Zobrist and Kendrick are the top 5 in the AL. Kipnis and Altuve are likely in the next five, but there is a big jump down. Lowrie is in this spot if he ends up the guy in Oakland, Ackley, and probably Infante are in the next five. Then Bonaficio / Izturis, Infante, Beckham, and whoever ends up manning the position in Baltimore and KC.

[Inside Pitch]

Cano

Zobrist

Pedroia

Brandon Phillips

Kinsler

Utley

Aaron Hill

Kendrick

 

 

Kinsler is as much a creation of his ballpark as anyone currently playing.  For his career he's posted a batting line of .238/311/.398 on the road -- 1800 at bats..

 

Aaron Hill has had some nice highs, but his lows are so much worse than anything Howie has done.  For his career he sports a league average OPS+ of 100.  Aaron Hill's defense is IMO, underrated by many.

 

Howie gets a lot of crap because of other people's expectations, but he's a better player than we most Angels fans give him credit for.

[Docwaukee]

Kinsler is as much a creation of his ballpark as anyone currently playing.  For his career he's posted a batting line of .238/311/.398 on the road -- 1800 at bats..

 

Aaron Hill has had some nice highs, but his lows are so much worse than anything Howie has done.  For his career he sports a league average OPS+ of 100.  Aaron Hill's defense is IMO, underrated by many.

 

Howie gets a lot of crap because of other people's expectations, but he's a player than we most Angels fans give him credit for.

agree.  I think howie could be ranked ahead of both those guys and utley based on what he has done the last couple of years.  If you asked me who I'd rather have in my lineup I would probably choose chase over Howie though.  Howie over kinsler and probably Hill but it's tough with hill because of what he could do. 

[Rochambeau]

Howie still might win a batting crown, everyone else in the league could hit below .285.

[sneaky_flute]

Kinsler is as much a creation of his ballpark as anyone currently playing.  For his career he's posted a batting line of .238/311/.398 on the road -- 1800 at bats..

 

Aaron Hill has had some nice highs, but his lows are so much worse than anything Howie has done.  For his career he sports a league average OPS+ of 100.  Aaron Hill's defense is IMO, underrated by many.

 

Howie gets a lot of crap because of other people's expectations, but he's a player than we most Angels fans give him credit for.

if you're going to use park factor, you have to look at the whole picture. nearly half of kinsler's home runs have been on the road but he doesn't walk or hit much away from his home park. it likely has more to do with the comfort of hitting at home than it does with the nature of the stadium. 

[Wallerrrr]

if you're going to use park factor, you have to look at the whole picture. nearly half of kinsler's home runs have been on the road but he doesn't walk or hit much away from his home park. it likely has more to do with the comfort of hitting at home than it does with the nature of the stadium. 

Kinsler

 

Home  -  80 HR  .915 OPS  .306 AVG

Away  -  63 HR  .705 OPS  .238 AVG

 

Looks like a pretty decent discrepency to me. I dont take that as him being more "comfortable" at home...I take that as him tending to suck away from Arlington because he isnt in a "hitter's park".

[sneaky_flute]

did you ignore part where i said he doesn't walk or hit at all on the road? it has nothing to do with the nature of the parks unless you think there's a magical aura about rangers ballpark. it's more home run-friendly and that's about it. it's a lousy argument. 

[Wallerrrr]

did you ignore part where i said he doesn't walk or hit at all on the road? it has nothing to do with the nature of the parks unless you think there's a magical aura about rangers ballpark. it's more home run-friendly and that's about it. it's a lousy argument. 

 

so is your insinuation he isnt comfortable hitting on the road. the other parks are not a hitters park like arlington is....hence his lack of production

 

"magical aura"...aka favorable dimensions...call it what you will

 

lol..there is a .200 pt difference in OPS...you are delusional if you think arlington doesnt play a role in that...

[Inside Pitch]

if you're going to use park factor, you have to look at the whole picture. nearly half of kinsler's home runs have been on the road but he doesn't walk or hit much away from his home park. it likely has more to do with the comfort of hitting at home than it does with the nature of the stadium. 

No, Homer...  He doesn't "hit or walk much" on the road because there is less of a chance of an innocent fly ball going an extra 20 feet so pitcher's are likely challenging him more.  Ian Kinsler for his career leaves TBIA and morphs into Yorvit Torreabla as a hitter.   

On the plus side, you guys are guaranteed to get replacement level value on the road from second base for the next five years at only 15 mil per season.

[Inside Pitch]

did you ignore part where i said he doesn't walk or hit at all on the road? it has nothing to do with the nature of the parks unless you think there's a magical aura about rangers ballpark. it's more home run-friendly and that's about it. it's a lousy argument. 

 

This is about as dense an argument as you could make.   Do you really believe that a pitcher approaches a hitter the same way regardless of how a park plays?   BTW....  Allow me to shed some light on your home park's tendencies.

 

All these indexes are for RHB.  

 

1B - 104  

2/3B - 112

HR - 116

R - 119

FB - 102

LD - 109

gbH - 104

ofH - 109

 

The ONLY thing that park inhibits is IF hits...  thats likely cause a pop up bunt travels 150 feet.

 

If you want the more generic numbers from ESPN you can see them here: http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/parkfactor/_/year/2012

[Inside Pitch]

so is your insinuation he isnt comfortable hitting on the road. the other parks are not a hitters park like arlington is....hence his lack of production

 

"magical aura"...aka favorable dimensions...call it what you will

 

lol..there is a .200 pt difference in OPS...you are delusional if you think arlington doesnt play a role in that...

 

 

You want him to magically understand and believe in park effects?  Tell Homer, that Jered Weaver is better than Yu Darvish..  Then sit back as his argument focuses on home away splits. 

[sneaky_flute]

This is about as dense an argument as you could make.   Do you really believe that a pitcher approaches a hitter the same way regardless of how a park plays?   BTW....  Allow me to shed some light on your home park's tendencies.

 

All these indexes are for RHB.  

 

1B - 104  

2/3B - 112

HR - 116

R - 119

FB - 102

LD - 109

gbH - 104

ofH - 109

 

The ONLY thing that park inhibits is IF hits...  thats likely cause a pop up bunt travels 150 feet.

 

If you want the more generic numbers from ESPN you can see them here: http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/parkfactor/_/year/2012

 

where did you get the idea that pitchers are challenging him more on the road? that sounds like some stupid beat writer bullshit. and no, they'll be getting a 4 or 5-war player for 15 million a year. on the plus side, you guys are guaranteed to pay hamilton like he's barry bonds in his prime. 

[xboom28x]

Breaking out the Orville Redenbacher

[Wallerrrr]

Lol @ beat writer bullsh*t

[Jay]

Lol @ beat writer bullsh*t

 

I thought that was pretty funny actually

[Inside Pitch]

where did you get the idea that pitchers are challenging him more on the road? that sounds like some stupid beat writer bullshit. and no, they'll be getting a 4 or 5-war player for 15 million a year. on the plus side, you guys are guaranteed to pay hamilton like he's barry bonds in his prime. 

 

Yes, it's much more logical to think a 200 point difference in OPS is because he's "more comfortable" at home.   Nevermind that EVERYONE that plays in that park sees their offense spike -- nevermind what those indexes say -- the park has NOTHING to do with his performance.    Do you REALLY think a pitcher goes after Albert Pujols the same way they do Yorbit Torreabla?   You cannot be this dense.

And thank you for taking the bait.   Once again, in your Homer world, Ian Kinsler is going to continue performing at all star levels while the guy that left the Rangers is bound to disappoint.  Lets just pretend he wasn't a below average bat last year, let's pretend he isn't entering his age 31 season or that he happens to play 2B.  You might want to take five minutes of your time to look up the decline curves for 2B.  I don't expect Kinsler to magically turn into crap but he may be taking the Carlos Baerga, Jose Vidro, Mike Lansing run at decline.... Given he's owed 70 million guaranteed, I'd be worried if I were a Rangers fan because with his contract rates and "old player skills", it's unlikely he pulls a Michael Young sort of run into his mid to late 30s.

 

BTW, the Angels aren't likely to get their money's worth with Hamilton, unlike you I can be honest about my team.