April 2012
7 posts
2012 Cubs Preview: Starting Rotation [Part III]
Chris Volstad | Can Volstad handle left-handed hitters?
In his career, Volstad has had trouble pitching to left-handed hitters. The trouble primarily comes from Volstad’s inability to keep left-handed hitters from hitting the ball out of the park and taking walks. In 2011, he gave up 2.16 HR/9 and posted a 3.86 BB/9 against lefties. Against righties, Volstad gave up 0.42 HR/9 and posted a...
2012 Cubs Preview: Starting Rotation [Part II]
Paul Maholm | Will the Cubs infield defense be good enough to convert Maholm’s ground balls into outs?
In my post about Maholm a few months ago I mentioned my concern with his declining swinging strike rate, and the subsequent increase in his contact rates. Higher contact rates will result in a greater number of balls in play, and will make Maholm’s results even more dependent on his...
2012 Cubs Preview: Starting Rotation [Part I]
Matt Garza | Has Garza become a more efficient pitcher? Does he throw fewer pitches per inning?
During the Cubs vs. Rockies broadcast, Keith brought up the fact that Garza needs to cut down on his pitches per inning in order to provide more innings for the Cubs. I recalled Garza going deeper in games during the last month of the season, and wanted to see if he had become more efficient near the...
2012 Cubs Preview: Outfield
Right Field: David DeJesus | Is DeJesus our best lead-off option?
According to The Book, the optimal lead-off hitter (i) has a high OBP, (iii) should be one of the team’s three best hitters, and (iii) should have little power. Let’s see if DeJesus fits this mold.
High OBP
DeJesus sports a career .356 OBP - the highest of any current Cubs hitter. According to ZiPS, here are the three...
2012 Cubs Preview: Corner Infield
First Base: Bryan LaHair | Is Bryan LaHair a Quad-A player?
Al recently put a good story together on this, but I figured we’d use some analytical tools to determine whether or not he has shown signs of being a Quad-A player.
The skill that differentiates Quad-A players from major league players is their ability - or inability in this case - to hit breaking pitches. Quad-A players face a lot...
2012 Cubs Preview: Middle Infield
Catcher: Geovany Soto | Soto’s 2009 season was hampered by a low BABIP, was this what plagued him in 2011 too?
In 2009, Soto posted a .246 BABIP - the 13th lowest in the majors - well below the league average BABIP of .299. As we can see from the chart below, the slope of his BABIP decline from ‘08 to ‘09 is steeper than the slope of his wOBA decline during the same period of...
Cubs 2012 Season Preview
I put together some player previews over at Bleed Cubbie Blue. When I initially thought about constructing player projections, I quickly realized that there were other projections that were far better than anything I could produce, and that we were all likely projectioned-out anyway. That said, I decided to address one meaningful question regarding each Cubs player in advance of the upcoming...
