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Monday, June 19, 2006 |
The Root Of All Errors
Mike Scioscia figures he knows what ails the club defensively:
"The defensive chemistry just isn't there," manager Mike Scioscia said. "We played at an extremely high level last year. As a staff, we've turned it inside and out and we're surprised that it isn't more like it was last year."Hmm. Erstad played not one game at center last year, Figgins split his time 322:437:398 at 2B:3B:CF, and Kotchman played only 131 innings at the position last year -- about a month's worth of playing time. As a theory, at best it's suspect, at worst it's disingenuous. The team's playing badly, and the trouble starts at shortstop, with nine errors, Orlando Cabrera.Scioscia cited the loss of Darin Erstad in center field and Casey Kotchman at first base as key reasons, while also mentioning that Chone Figgins has been forced to move all around the diamond.
Comments:
I don't think it really as simple as you or Scioscia claim. If we want to compare to last year, we need to look at what is different. For the infield it is basically Kotchman and Morales in place of Erstad (Figgins moved around a lot last year, too, so that obviously isn't a valid excuse). So, as far as infield errors go, if they are tending to be throwing errors, then the Erstad move to CF could be causing it. As far as Kotchman goes, it doesn't seem like the errors changed much when he was playing (granted he was playing with mono, so it wouldn't be his true ability) and since Morales has taken over. As for the outfield, the only difference there is Erstad for Finley, which should greatly improve it, regardless of how much time Erstad spent there. Of course, again, I have gotten the impression that the team has been consistently errorprone throughout the season, not just when Erstad has been out. It seems like there might be something there that someone could look into the data and see if they support Scioscia's argument about injuries or if it is just players having mental lapses.
the Erstad move to CF could be causing it
How? Those errors would be charged against Erstad, who's barely had any playing time on account of his balky ankle. Cabrera has earned the errors he's made this year, and he leads the team. I don't see how anything could possibly support Scioscia's claim, as it doesn't fit in with the playing time.
How? Those errors would be charged against Erstad, who's barely had any playing time on account of his balky ankle. Cabrera has earned the errors he's made this year, and he leads the team. I don't see how anything could possibly support Scioscia's claim, as it doesn't fit in with the playing time.
The Angels might not be as bad defensively as their error totals suggest. As Ken Rosenthal points out, the Angels' defensive efficiency is respectable:
"Speaking of the Angels, they've allowed 51 unearned runs, most in the majors. They allowed only 45 last season and 42 the season before that, both times leading the AL While clearly mistake-prone, the Angels fare better in defensive efficiency, a statistic that measures the percentage of balls in play that are converted into outs. They're sixth in the league by that measure ..."
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5710100
"Speaking of the Angels, they've allowed 51 unearned runs, most in the majors. They allowed only 45 last season and 42 the season before that, both times leading the AL While clearly mistake-prone, the Angels fare better in defensive efficiency, a statistic that measures the percentage of balls in play that are converted into outs. They're sixth in the league by that measure ..."
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5710100
# posted by 
: 6/20/2006 05:03:00 AM
: 6/20/2006 05:03:00 AM
How? Those errors would be charged against Erstad, who's barely had any playing time on account of his balky ankle.
All I meant was that if Scioscia is correct and it is due to injuries (or Kotchman actually playing with mono), we can easily compare it to last year, where the Angels had a great 1B. Erstad theoretically stopped a lot of throws from becoming throwing errors. Basically, the team lost a Gold Glover at first and now they are getting a lot of errors (specifically the 2B and SS, who were both very solid last year, are). If those are throwing errors, it could be due to a more limited range for receiving a throw by the 1B. And I don't mean to disagree with you here, I just wanted to say taht there are relatively easy ways to test Scioscia's theory, so we shouldn't dismiss it out of hand until something like that is done.
All I meant was that if Scioscia is correct and it is due to injuries (or Kotchman actually playing with mono), we can easily compare it to last year, where the Angels had a great 1B. Erstad theoretically stopped a lot of throws from becoming throwing errors. Basically, the team lost a Gold Glover at first and now they are getting a lot of errors (specifically the 2B and SS, who were both very solid last year, are). If those are throwing errors, it could be due to a more limited range for receiving a throw by the 1B. And I don't mean to disagree with you here, I just wanted to say taht there are relatively easy ways to test Scioscia's theory, so we shouldn't dismiss it out of hand until something like that is done.
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