August 18, 2002
New members
Last night Alex Rodriguez (obviously fresh off of reading my entry about him the other day) hit three homers and became just the 6th player in the history of baseball to hit 5 straight 40 homer seasons.
Think about that for a minute.
The members of the 5 straight 40 homer club? Babe Ruth, Sammy Sosa (who became a member earlier this season), Ralph Kiner, Duke Snider, Ken Griffey Jr. and now ARod.
That is definitely an interesting group.
Anyone who reads this blog knows I love "paces" and "projected" stats, so here are ARod's:
162 G
627 AB
.323 AVG
.409 OBP
.650 SLG
1.058 OPS
56 HR
143 RBI
131 RUNS
84 BB
202 HITS
11 SB
Now, that my friends, is a season.
While ARod was doing what the best player in baseball does, another middle infielder joined another club.
Actually that isn't really accurate, he didn't join a club, he started one!
Alfonso Soriano went deep last night for homer #30, which, along with his 46 SB, makes him the first second baseman in baseball history to have a 30-30 season.
Soriano's "projected" stats might be even more fun to look at than ARods:
157 G
710 AB
.306 AVG
.332 OBP
.562 SLG
.894 OPS
40 HR
103 RBI
130 RUNS
24 BB
162 SO
217 HITS
46 SB
If Soriano was a pitcher, that would be a heck of a K/BB ratio. Probably second only to Schilling...
Soriano has slumped as of late however, hitting .284/.310/.531 since the all-star break.
That, of course, is still pretty good, just not as good as his first half of .315/.342/.576.
Fonz is having one of the most amazing seasons in a long time.
Some stats to chew on:
Soriano on the first pitch = .481/.482/.886
Soriano on a 1-0 count = .375/.364/.800
Soriano on 2-0 count = .500/.500/1.125
Soriano on 2-1 count = .444/.444/.944
So, basically, Soriano appears to be a Billy Beane dream (minus all the walks).
When he gets a pitch to hit, he crushes it.
The problem (if there is a problem at all) is that he doesn't often get ahead in the count.
And why anyone would throw him something even resembling a strike on the first pitch is completely beyond me.
On the other end of the spectrum:
Soriano on a 0-2 count = .210/.210/.371
Soriano on a 1-2 count = .167/.174/.306
Soriano on a 2-2 count = .219/.216/.356
Soriano after a 0-1 count = .246/.264/.434
So basically, when the pitcher is giving him something to hit (for some reason on the first pitch or when Soriano is ahead in the count) Soriano absolutely kills it.
And when the pitcher can throw a "pitcher's pitch" and try to get Soriano to chase something, he is hitting about .200.
I guess it is sort of a catch-22.
When you throw him a strike, he kills it. When you get ahead of him, he starts hitting .200.
Of course, to get ahead of him, you might have to throw some strikes. Although, with Soriano and his hacktastic ways, you don't always.
There should be a memo sent out to the other 29 teams with these stats on it.
For God's sake guys, stop throwing him strikes!
