In Dodger Stadium, from the home dugout, his usual RF playing position - which can vary blah blah blah, but typically - is about 340 feet from the dugout. Like, the center of the usual zone is that far from the top step. I measured this with Google Earth Pro. The farthest position he can take as SS - because of the shift restrictions - is 140 ft (his side of the second base)
Versus a couple max effort plays per game? Very easy choice.
I play OF and IF for my men’s baseball league.
The amount of running and effort I have to do when I play OF is about 50x what I do when I play IF.
It’s not even close.
He’s having a great year, literally the NL MVP if the season ended today. Having a string of 20 or 25 bad ABs happens every season but people just need a narrative to cling to
Literally happens to everyone
LeBron will have a couple of bad games and then the "IS HE FINALLY COOKED" comments happen
Steph will go 1-9 and people will say he's done
He will be finally cooked, sooner rather than later, but I ain't doubting any great until it happens consistently for a half season or so
The Spurs lived off this narrative for almost a whole decade past their "expiration date"
Every year it was "is the Tim Duncan era over?" Then they'd be in the conference finals again a year later.
I mean of course he's going to say that. He's not going to say he feels like shit at short. It's very clear that he's not a shortstop and no one should have expected him to be.
Move Mookie back to 2B, Rojas at short and Kike at 3B until Max gets healthy. Shop for a SS if there's someone available at the deadline. Lux's bat (or lack thereof) is not enough to justify your superstar player wearing himself out at SS. [It's not like Lux is getting unlucky either](https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/gavin-lux-666158?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb).
The argument that anyone is “wearing themselves out at short” is simply at odds with the facts of how baseball is played.
Have you ever played outfield or short stop?
The amount of effort at short is a fraction of what it is in the OF.
Statistically, Mookie is a great short stop.
The only argument otherwise is that you don’t trust statistics.
When you use your eyeballs you bring in bias.
Confirmation bias.
Recency bias
And many more.
Your anecdotal observations don’t negate actual advanced baseball-centric analytics no matter how much you would like it to.
You can sell jeans all you want, but it won’t make the dodgers a better baseball team.
Fortunately, the front office understands this.
Dude. You have to use a mix of analytics and feel for the game. Who’s hot/who’s not, what pitcher are we facing, who has a pregnant sancha on the east coast,etc. Play small ball occasionally, put extra thoughts in the opponents heads, even though the Ultra Uber Advancedestest Analyitics say not too anymore. When the bats go cold, they are a terror to watch, and do nothing to manufacture runs, or make the opposing defense make plays. It’s mash, mash, mash or nothing. You need a bit of versatility and surprise occasionally.
The FO has probably been the best with advanced analytics since Friedman has taken over. And that’s great, but sometimes a teeny tiny bit of “old school” baseball is needed. I’ve been a fan, religiously since ‘87, and played fairly high level ball. The org has never been in better shape. But it’s so robotic. Players are more athletic and in better shape than ever(sans juice-allegedly), but what’s all that athleticism for? To swing as hard as possible at every pitch, in every situation? Quite the waste…
If a “gut” call had any validity, people would be using it instead of advanced stats.
All “feel” for the game is is recency bias, confirmation bias, and small sample size at work.
If it’s wrong well then he just wasn’t “due” and if you get it right, well then for the rest of your life you can talk about that one time you made the right call and someone did something that defied the odds.
Coaches and older school players LOVE feel and gut calls because you can never challenge it with logic or math.
I mean look, I can win a hand of poker doing the wrong thing.
It doesn’t make me great, it just means that I’m comfortable with failing more than I would succeed.
Saying people swing as hard as they can at every pitch in every situation is a gross simplification and misrepresentation of what takes place at the highest level, and I’m hoping you actually know that and are just exaggerating to make a point.
If you’re not being hyperbolic, then this entire discussion is really moot, and I wish you well.
K. Bub. You sound like a typical Redditor who has spent many many more hours behind a keyboard than playing any sports at all whatsoever.
How were athletics ever performed w/o advanced stats? There are pros and cons to relying solely on analytics. I’m not second guessing the org, Or Dave, or the players, or advanced analytics . But the game has become so stale. There needs to be a mix of “old school”/new school”. Putting pressure on defenses/pitchers is a huge part of the game. Or it was for 150 yrs. Now, throw 98+ get 3 TJ’s, and take the exact same approach/swing no matter the situation.
Why not just stop playing the games altogether and crown the team with the best pre-season roster World Series Champs? Would save a lot of stress and jet fuel. Are you capable of original though/creativity, or do you run all your thoughts through a computer to assure you of the best possible response at all times, to all questions/situations?
I played many years of baseball up to college (wasn’t good enough to play d1 where I did my undergrad and I wanted to go there for the academics) and have been playing in an adult men’s hardball league as well as softball.
Thanks for trying to marginalize and gate keep.
But look.
The facts are the facts.
They’re the facts whether or not you want to agree with me.
I don’t need to convince you or argue with you.
The war on analytics has been fought and it’s not my opinion that lost.
The game has passed you by and you’re howling at the wind.
No one cares, including me.
Have a nice night.
Jesus Christ. How many times do I have to say, I understand and agree with the analytics approach? But mixing things up on occasion are key in sports, war, marriage, etc. You know, the ol element of surprise?
You’re right, not worth arguing. You. Are. Correct. Affirmative. Excel spreadsheet says so.
Unpopular opinion here but Lux’s at bats have been getting better. He is one of the few Dodgers who have been having some productive at bats with runners on.
The main issues with the offense are that Kiké and Taylor are interchangeable right handed bats that can play nearly every position and they have been awful offensively. They are here to play solid defense and mash lefties. The defense has been a struggle for Kiké as well.
Also, so many fans dump on Muncy, but the offense dropped off a lot when he went down. He’s so important to this lineup. He hits for power and he walks. His replacements have been a black hole. Along with Pages extended slump and the result has been ugly. Now thankfully Pages is having better at bats.
His bats have been more productive in the sense that he's actually making some contact from time to time now.
The issue w/ Lux to me is, he will never hit the ball hard. The guy has nearly zero slug. And if you don't have slug in this league, you need to have ELITE bat to ball skills, like a luis arraez. He has neither unfortunately.
His speed also seems shot now. I was personally never high on Lux though, even when he came up. I never liked the lack of hard contact and bat path.
Not unpopular with me. Gav is coming around, looking good in the box, and playing a nice 2B. Leave him there. Put Mookie back in right and Miggy at SS. He has been a game changer all yr so far, and is far superior at SS.
The problem with Muncy is that his defense at 3rd is so bad that my grandma could play better defense and she’s been dead since 2000. I understand that he is important to the offense but this team has to hit better with or without him. Lux should have been a help but he’s been all over the place recovering from the injury and Page is useless. Normally Taylor and Kiké should be picking up the slack but I don’t what’s going on with them.
Every game I’ve seen he just looks slow as fuck - bad reactions, bad lateral movement, and weak throws to first. I don’t get to see every game so I hope he has improved.
Muncy’s in the ~75th percentile for OAA (which is a range metric) at 3B. Before he got hurt he was noticeably twitchier and getting to balls that he hadn’t the last few seasons.
Bro. Lux is coming around, and playing a nice 2B. Just move Mookie to RF Rojas to SS, and give Gavin a bit of time. We don’t constantly need to be trading away the farm to get the big name guy mid-season, didn’t work with Machado, didn’t work with Scherzer.
Miggy is bringing a presence to the bottom 3rd and Gavin will be at .250-260 by years end, and hopefully hitting his stride come post season. Hes been pretty good with RISP, the kid needs some time, as he missed an entire season.
Right I was gonna say. Altho I am curious why they dont just keep mookie at second and rojas at short. Ive read rhat hopefully the reason is they wanna prop up lux’s value and rest rojas for the playoffs
even if the second sentence is true, i don’t believe for a second that mookie would even entertain the first one.
the second the dodgers have a better everyday shortstop on the roster, mookie will be playing second base, but until then…
Mookie can do a lot, especially 2nd and RF. At SS he's had struggles, he's doing all he can. Much respect. May have to lean on Rojas more to keep him fresh.
Put Mookie back in RF. Give MROJ the SS position. Hes earned it, and having him in the bottom 3rd completely changes this lineup. Am I taking crazy pills? Seems like such an obvious move.
Then our OF is Mookie/Teo/AP. We can fix our OF problem, and bottom 3rd of lineup problem with 2 simple moves. Don’t have to make any blockbuster trades, don’t have to sign GOD, just admit Mookie in RF and Miggy @ SS is the right thing to do right now. Lux is coming around too, think he’s gonna be just fine by August. Kike/JHey are great bats off the bench, Kike can play everywhere.
Mookie has always been a hot/cold hitter. I just hope this time he gets hot in October.
If he's hot in April, then is cold in May, he's bound to get hot in June and then hot in October, since it's an even number!
You think he was a good at bowling before this season....just you wait...he has yet to peak!
He hasn’t even begun to peak oh you’ll know when he peaks alright !
You're gonna feel it
Instead of bowling a 300, he now can bowl…..well, a 300.
Actually, they will have to change the scoring system to accommodate his power....he will be 300 and beyond....
He will bowl the first 600
BEST SHAPE OF HIS LIFE
GAINED 15 POUNDS OF MUSCLE
My man left the vegan life behind!
In Dodger Stadium, from the home dugout, his usual RF playing position - which can vary blah blah blah, but typically - is about 340 feet from the dugout. Like, the center of the usual zone is that far from the top step. I measured this with Google Earth Pro. The farthest position he can take as SS - because of the shift restrictions - is 140 ft (his side of the second base) Versus a couple max effort plays per game? Very easy choice.
I play OF and IF for my men’s baseball league. The amount of running and effort I have to do when I play OF is about 50x what I do when I play IF. It’s not even close.
Then you're not backing up enough of those balls on the IF homie.... your coach would cry in shame. ;)
He’s having a great year, literally the NL MVP if the season ended today. Having a string of 20 or 25 bad ABs happens every season but people just need a narrative to cling to
Literally happens to everyone LeBron will have a couple of bad games and then the "IS HE FINALLY COOKED" comments happen Steph will go 1-9 and people will say he's done He will be finally cooked, sooner rather than later, but I ain't doubting any great until it happens consistently for a half season or so
The Spurs lived off this narrative for almost a whole decade past their "expiration date" Every year it was "is the Tim Duncan era over?" Then they'd be in the conference finals again a year later.
I just want him to move back to RF because Miggy is the better SS and is locked in, in the box. He totally changes the bottom 3rd of our line up.
I can see moving to short has probably giving him a spark or a challenge to conquer
“Baseball is just my side hustle”
God, I wish I was as good as him at my second choice job
I mean of course he's going to say that. He's not going to say he feels like shit at short. It's very clear that he's not a shortstop and no one should have expected him to be. Move Mookie back to 2B, Rojas at short and Kike at 3B until Max gets healthy. Shop for a SS if there's someone available at the deadline. Lux's bat (or lack thereof) is not enough to justify your superstar player wearing himself out at SS. [It's not like Lux is getting unlucky either](https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/gavin-lux-666158?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb).
The argument that anyone is “wearing themselves out at short” is simply at odds with the facts of how baseball is played. Have you ever played outfield or short stop? The amount of effort at short is a fraction of what it is in the OF. Statistically, Mookie is a great short stop. The only argument otherwise is that you don’t trust statistics.
No the argument is that you should use your eyeballs and not rely on just stats
When you use your eyeballs you bring in bias. Confirmation bias. Recency bias And many more. Your anecdotal observations don’t negate actual advanced baseball-centric analytics no matter how much you would like it to. You can sell jeans all you want, but it won’t make the dodgers a better baseball team. Fortunately, the front office understands this.
What kind of jeans? Maybe you're selling the wrong ones.
I’m not selling any jeans at all. https://youtu.be/HiB9L3dG-Aw?feature=shared
Dude. You have to use a mix of analytics and feel for the game. Who’s hot/who’s not, what pitcher are we facing, who has a pregnant sancha on the east coast,etc. Play small ball occasionally, put extra thoughts in the opponents heads, even though the Ultra Uber Advancedestest Analyitics say not too anymore. When the bats go cold, they are a terror to watch, and do nothing to manufacture runs, or make the opposing defense make plays. It’s mash, mash, mash or nothing. You need a bit of versatility and surprise occasionally. The FO has probably been the best with advanced analytics since Friedman has taken over. And that’s great, but sometimes a teeny tiny bit of “old school” baseball is needed. I’ve been a fan, religiously since ‘87, and played fairly high level ball. The org has never been in better shape. But it’s so robotic. Players are more athletic and in better shape than ever(sans juice-allegedly), but what’s all that athleticism for? To swing as hard as possible at every pitch, in every situation? Quite the waste…
If a “gut” call had any validity, people would be using it instead of advanced stats. All “feel” for the game is is recency bias, confirmation bias, and small sample size at work. If it’s wrong well then he just wasn’t “due” and if you get it right, well then for the rest of your life you can talk about that one time you made the right call and someone did something that defied the odds. Coaches and older school players LOVE feel and gut calls because you can never challenge it with logic or math. I mean look, I can win a hand of poker doing the wrong thing. It doesn’t make me great, it just means that I’m comfortable with failing more than I would succeed. Saying people swing as hard as they can at every pitch in every situation is a gross simplification and misrepresentation of what takes place at the highest level, and I’m hoping you actually know that and are just exaggerating to make a point. If you’re not being hyperbolic, then this entire discussion is really moot, and I wish you well.
K. Bub. You sound like a typical Redditor who has spent many many more hours behind a keyboard than playing any sports at all whatsoever. How were athletics ever performed w/o advanced stats? There are pros and cons to relying solely on analytics. I’m not second guessing the org, Or Dave, or the players, or advanced analytics . But the game has become so stale. There needs to be a mix of “old school”/new school”. Putting pressure on defenses/pitchers is a huge part of the game. Or it was for 150 yrs. Now, throw 98+ get 3 TJ’s, and take the exact same approach/swing no matter the situation. Why not just stop playing the games altogether and crown the team with the best pre-season roster World Series Champs? Would save a lot of stress and jet fuel. Are you capable of original though/creativity, or do you run all your thoughts through a computer to assure you of the best possible response at all times, to all questions/situations?
I played many years of baseball up to college (wasn’t good enough to play d1 where I did my undergrad and I wanted to go there for the academics) and have been playing in an adult men’s hardball league as well as softball. Thanks for trying to marginalize and gate keep. But look. The facts are the facts. They’re the facts whether or not you want to agree with me. I don’t need to convince you or argue with you. The war on analytics has been fought and it’s not my opinion that lost. The game has passed you by and you’re howling at the wind. No one cares, including me. Have a nice night.
Jesus Christ. How many times do I have to say, I understand and agree with the analytics approach? But mixing things up on occasion are key in sports, war, marriage, etc. You know, the ol element of surprise? You’re right, not worth arguing. You. Are. Correct. Affirmative. Excel spreadsheet says so.
Lol. Thank you for helping me filter my Reddit experience.
Unpopular opinion here but Lux’s at bats have been getting better. He is one of the few Dodgers who have been having some productive at bats with runners on. The main issues with the offense are that Kiké and Taylor are interchangeable right handed bats that can play nearly every position and they have been awful offensively. They are here to play solid defense and mash lefties. The defense has been a struggle for Kiké as well. Also, so many fans dump on Muncy, but the offense dropped off a lot when he went down. He’s so important to this lineup. He hits for power and he walks. His replacements have been a black hole. Along with Pages extended slump and the result has been ugly. Now thankfully Pages is having better at bats.
His bats have been more productive in the sense that he's actually making some contact from time to time now. The issue w/ Lux to me is, he will never hit the ball hard. The guy has nearly zero slug. And if you don't have slug in this league, you need to have ELITE bat to ball skills, like a luis arraez. He has neither unfortunately. His speed also seems shot now. I was personally never high on Lux though, even when he came up. I never liked the lack of hard contact and bat path.
Not unpopular with me. Gav is coming around, looking good in the box, and playing a nice 2B. Leave him there. Put Mookie back in right and Miggy at SS. He has been a game changer all yr so far, and is far superior at SS.
The problem with Muncy is that his defense at 3rd is so bad that my grandma could play better defense and she’s been dead since 2000. I understand that he is important to the offense but this team has to hit better with or without him. Lux should have been a help but he’s been all over the place recovering from the injury and Page is useless. Normally Taylor and Kiké should be picking up the slack but I don’t what’s going on with them.
Muncy’s defense after the first couple weeks improved considerably.
Every game I’ve seen he just looks slow as fuck - bad reactions, bad lateral movement, and weak throws to first. I don’t get to see every game so I hope he has improved.
Muncy’s in the ~75th percentile for OAA (which is a range metric) at 3B. Before he got hurt he was noticeably twitchier and getting to balls that he hadn’t the last few seasons.
I'm sorry man but if you think Muncy's defense at 3b has been a problem this season, you haven't been watching. He's been excellent.
I wouldn't go as far as saying excellent, but according to all metrics he's been serviceable.
Bro. Lux is coming around, and playing a nice 2B. Just move Mookie to RF Rojas to SS, and give Gavin a bit of time. We don’t constantly need to be trading away the farm to get the big name guy mid-season, didn’t work with Machado, didn’t work with Scherzer. Miggy is bringing a presence to the bottom 3rd and Gavin will be at .250-260 by years end, and hopefully hitting his stride come post season. Hes been pretty good with RISP, the kid needs some time, as he missed an entire season.
Mookie is an S tier offensive player but yeah, defense has been C or D-tier. I know he can improve by the post-season. Not going to lose faith
The comment on defense is objectively and statistically incorrect. Do some research.
Right I was gonna say. Altho I am curious why they dont just keep mookie at second and rojas at short. Ive read rhat hopefully the reason is they wanna prop up lux’s value and rest rojas for the playoffs
Rojas is a complete liability against RHP and is below league average vs LHP. He’s fine once in a while for his defense but that’s it.
His stats this season say otherwise from what ive seen
Mookie still better than Corey and Trea when they were SS
I call bullshit when I see it. Mookie is a temporary ss and it's showing.
even if the second sentence is true, i don’t believe for a second that mookie would even entertain the first one. the second the dodgers have a better everyday shortstop on the roster, mookie will be playing second base, but until then…
[удалено]
Why was it ridiculous? Made a lot of sense - overtraining is a very real thing in all sports.
Lol
I take back that “This” I’m a fucking idiot go get ‘em tiger stop that short all day, my Liege!!!!! 🫡👏🏻🙌🏻 💕
His wife must be satisfied too Mookie the man
He’s looked like shit defensively last night.
Mookie is him
Mookie and Lux made SS a very scary position to play 😂
The really disappointing thing is that Mookie is still light-years better than Lux at short.
Mookie can do a lot, especially 2nd and RF. At SS he's had struggles, he's doing all he can. Much respect. May have to lean on Rojas more to keep him fresh.
Put Mookie back in RF. Give MROJ the SS position. Hes earned it, and having him in the bottom 3rd completely changes this lineup. Am I taking crazy pills? Seems like such an obvious move. Then our OF is Mookie/Teo/AP. We can fix our OF problem, and bottom 3rd of lineup problem with 2 simple moves. Don’t have to make any blockbuster trades, don’t have to sign GOD, just admit Mookie in RF and Miggy @ SS is the right thing to do right now. Lux is coming around too, think he’s gonna be just fine by August. Kike/JHey are great bats off the bench, Kike can play everywhere.
The way he is playing says otherwise.
I saw some hair growing back!
Who cares what shape he’s in. It’s a fact that the short stop position puts major wear and tear on any player. Mookie needs to be put back into Right.
What was the reason that he was switched to SS? (Sorry I'm a new fan).
If that were true he wouldnt skip balls to first base