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Monday, June 23, 2008
Tex’s bottom-line numbers will make it rain free-agent cash (but you knew that)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Three home runs from Tex on Sunday, now that makes for interesting debate, wouldn’t you say?
Hey, there’s a reason he was the first Braves player to ever hit three homers in a game in the more than one decade that Turner Field has been opened _ because it’s very difficult and takes a special hitter.
Think about it: Andruw Jones never did it, and he hit over 30 homers in seven seasons while Turner Field was his home park, including 92 homers during 2005-2006 (stop a moment; does that feel like a long time ago?).
Chipper’s never done it, and he’s hit 26 or more homers nine times since Turner Field opened for baseball in 1997 (he hit three in a game at RFK in D.C.).
Say what you will about Mark Teixeira’s numbers and how he goes about accumulating them, but they are impressive on the bottom line, and some team, whether the Braves or a bigger-market club, will pay a very large sum for his free-agent services after this season.
Anyway, here’s what Braves fans want to know: Is Teixeira ready to put the team on his back and carry it a while, after Chipper Jones and Brian McCann carried so much of the load to this point of the season?
And I don’t have an answer. We thought the notoriously slow-starting Teixeira was ready to go on a torrid stretch a while back, when he hit .349 with five homers and 14 RBIs in an 11-game stretch from May 29 to June 8.
But that was followed by another slump in which he went 7-for-43 (.163) with one extra-base hit (a double) and 16 strikeouts over a 12-game stretch that ended with yesterday’s outburst.
So is he ready now? Might that huge output be the start of something more than a two-week burn? Or just the product of facing Carlos Silva, the worst starter in the majors for the past six weeks or so? We’ll see. Stay tuned.
Meantime, consider this rather stunning stat I stumbled upon this morning. And think how attractive Wrigley Field and the day-game playing Cubs might be to Teixeira (that is, if they didn’t already have an entrenched, power-hitting, Gold Glove first baseman in Derrek Lee):
In 25 day games this season, Teixeira has .372 (35-for-94) with nine homers, 31 RBI, a .478 OBP and .755 slugging percentage, for an enormous 1.333 OPS.
In 50 night games, he’s batted just .221 with four homers, 24 RBI, .309 OBP and .321 slugging percentage (.630 OPS).
Folks, that’s pretty incredible, that split at mid-season. I mean, his OPS is more than double in day games.
And then I started looking at his previous five seasons. And guess what? This is the third time in four years that he’s produced far better numbers in day games than at night.
Guess he wasn’t exaggerating when he told me recently that he starts hitting when it warms up. That must go for day-game heat, too.
Last season, Teixeira hit .382 with 12 homers and a 1.235 OPS in 34 day games, and .278 with 18 homers and an .865 OPS in 98 night games.
In 2005, it wasn’t nearly as extreme a difference, but he did hit 19 homers with a .612 slugging percentage in 206 at-bats in 51 day games, compared to 24 homers with a .557 slugging percentage in 438 at-bats.
In his other seasons, there wasn’t a marked difference in day and night games. So perhaps it’s a vision thing as he’s gotten older? (Here I’m just throwing out wild speculation based on nothing, the kind of stuff that’s great in blogs).
For his career, he’s got a .303 average with 64 homers and a .933 OPS in 228 day games, and a .277 average with 119 homers and an .867 OPS in 594 night games. The slugging percentage is more than 100 points higher in day games, .605 to .504.
Anyway, one more interesting bottom-line stat for Braves fans to consider. Again, I know that the numbers have seemed a bit hollow at times, that he doesn’t seem to have quite as many big hits as you’d expect from such a productive hitter, but here goes:
Since being traded Atlanta last season at the trade deadline, Teixeira has hit .291 with 25 doubles, 30 homers, 111 RBI, a .382 OBP and .528 slugging percentage (.910 OPS) in 129 games for the Braves.
In that same period since Aug. 1, 2007, here’s what a few select others have done:
Albert Pujols has hit .345 with 29 doubles, 25 homers, 74 RBI, a .462 OBP and .603 slugging percentage (1.065 OPS) in 120 games.
Chase Utley has hit .300 with 26 doubles, 27 homers, 84 RBI, a .384 OBP and .574 slugging (.958 OPS) in 108 games.
Chipper Jones has hit .367 with 31 doubles, 28 homers, 92 RBI, a .456 OBP and .631 slugging (1.087 OPS) in 120 games.
Lance Berkman has hit .335 with 34 doubles, 37 homers, 96 RBI, a .425 OBP and .656 slugging (1.081 OPS) in 128 games.
Alex Rodriguez has hit .338 with 23 doubles, 33 homers, 94 RBI, a .431 OBP and .642 slugging (1.073 OPS) in 109 games.
David Ortiz has hit .300 with 29 doubles, 30 homers, 96 RBI, a .411 OBP and .599 slugging (1.010 OPS) in 107 games.
Manny Ramirez has hit .292 with 23 doubles, 17 homers, 69 RBI, a .379 OPB and .496 slugging (.875 OPS) in 101 games.
Derrek Lee has hit .299 with 33 doubles, 26 homers, 74 RBI, a .367 OBP and .521 slugging (.888 OPS) in 130 games.
Oh, by the way: As a team, the Braves lead the NL with a .290 average and .368 OBP in day games, while ranking sixth with a .264 average in night games (and a .340 OBP).
Best CD’s of 2008 (a working list): We’re about halfway through the year, so here’s my working-toward-a-top-25 CDs list for 2008. Not that they’ll all make the year-end list, but many will. Some terrific new music in the first half of this rich year (the economy sucks, but the music output certainly does not). In no particular order, here’s the best of what I’ve bought (there are obviously other great ones I’ve not purchased):
Drive-By Truckers Brighter Than Creation’s Dark; My Morning Jacket Evil Urges; Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Dig, Lazarus, Dig!; The Roots Rising Down; James McMurtry Just Us Kids; R.E.M. Accelerate; Aimee Mann @#%&*! Smilers; The Black Angels Directions To See a Ghost; Santogold (self-titled CD); The Raconteurs Consolers of the Lonely;
The Black Keys Attack & Release; The Whigs Mission Control; Duffy Rockferry; The Raveonettes Lust, Lust, Lust; Elbow Seldom Seen Kid; Devotchka A Mad & Faithful Telling; Mudcrutch self-titled CD; Joseph Arthur set of four EPs (I’ve got three of them); Fleet Foxes (self-titled debut).
NOTE: I’d have Radiohead In Rainbows on this list, but it was released online last year.
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