Baker vs. Piniella

Posted on April 22, 2008 by Corey

I was prompted by Manstrength’s weak defending of Dusty Baker to look at some stats that I think are are indicative of a much more well-rounded team under Piniella than what the Cubs were under Baker.  Yes, we are only 19 games into this season, and that must be taken into account.  However, 19 games is a significant chunk and I can only believe the current trends will continue.  I focused on a few stats that I had mentioned in my response to Manstrength’s post. 

*  On Base Percentage: 

2006 (Baker) - .314 (2nd to last in MLB)

2008 (Piniella) - .364 (2nd in MLB)

 

* Walks

2006 (Baker) - 395 / 2.4 walks per game (Last in MLB)

2008 (Piniella) - 83 / 4.3 walks per game (6th in MLB)

 

Now, both of these statistics directly relate to run production:

2006 (Baker) - 716 / 4.4 runs per game (3rd to last in MLB)

2008 (Piniella) - 118 / 6.2 runs per game (2nd in MLB)

 I have tried locating the statistics for Pitches Per Plate Appearance, but I am having a hard time finding that.  If I’m not mistaken, the Cubs are currently seeing about 4 pitches per plate appearance.  I think, although I’m not sure, that under Baker, the Cubs saw about 2.5 pitches per plate appearance.  Currently, Fukudome is leading the majors in pitches per plate appearance.  Look at the 10 pitch at-bat he had in last night’s game against the Mets.  The patience of this team at the plate is so refreshing.  They have the ability to generate runs and they don’t simply rely on the long-ball. 

Throw out statistics if you want.  Just watch the games.  It’s a great thing to see these guys playing with patience and confidence.  They have good fundamentals.  This team looks like other teams I’ve been jealous of as they defeated the Cubs.  This team looks good.

 

 

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2 Responses to “Baker vs. Piniella”

  1. manstrength, on April 23rd, 2008 at 10:13 pm Said:

    The sweet thing about having a blog, and an opinion.. is that you can have whatever opinion you want. Fact of the matter is.. regardless of how shitty the team played defensively or how poor of discipline they had at the plate, the Cubs still managed to have back to back winning seasons for the first time since 1972.

  2. thegreatgeno, on April 24th, 2008 at 5:14 am Said:

    Good point, manstrength. He took a team practically anybody could win with and won more games than he lost half the seasons he was there. That’s the definition of success for anybody. Which is why he couldn’t get a job the year after he was fired and then when he did get one it was with the crappy Cincinnati Reds and the guy who hired him was fired twenty games into the season.

    But hey, blowing the wild card in 2004 was pretty freakin’ sweet.

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