IST: Cubs vs. Dodgers

[SilenceS]

Then say either you can't accept his past actions as part of the team going forward or that you can(assuming he's changed or w/e) but that he's just not a good enough player. Make either of those two things your argument. Don't bring up this garbage about you can't move Javy off SS. Sure you can. They've done it more than twice in his professional career. If there is a compelling reason to do it again they are going to do it again. As mentioned if you don't think either of the cases I lined out make Russell a compelling reason then fine but say that don't make it as though Baez is Cal Ripken out there and you can't take him off SS.

You man love for Russell is skewing your view as well.

 

[beckdawg]

is it just me or does schwarber look like a left handed jack parkman?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BwJy2CdIEAAqATL.jpg:large

 

[beckdawg]

You man love for Russell is skewing your view as well.

Man love? I literally said I'm down for whatever the cubs wanna do with him. I'm not pushing for them to play Russell anymore than I am for any other person on the roster.

 

[SilenceS]

I've said why...
First as far as what he did..
Obviously I dont like it , but it the organization choice to keep him or not and deal with whatever choice they made..
Dont affect me one way or another, I'm just a fan watching my team as a whole..

I never said they cant move Javy, I just said that there no need to bring Russell up right away because the team doing fine with what they have going on now with the middle infield..
As far as Russell play, he hasn't been all that good offensively the last couple years, so it not like he will be coming back with a big offensive stick that needed in the lineup.

If it just about defense, I haven't seen anything that says I wish they had Russell out there over the other guys..
I think the MI defense has been fine


Also... Javy may mess up on some routine plays but his range and arm makes up for any of those mistakes, a lot of those plays Russell probably would have little to no chance on

Delscaso is average at best at second but his bat has played well. Zobrist hasn’t even played that much. At this point, Heyward swinging the stick makes it hard to make room for Russell regularly and that’s why I think the Cubs backed off. At this point, Baez is doing it in all facets of the game. Russell has not shown to be anything but a glove the past two years. Sure, there is still potential but the Cubs window isn’t for players to figure it out. Schwarbs would be the guy on the bubble for playing time

 

[fatbeard]

H

He is top 10 in drs as a shortstop this year. Lol

Defensive stats are meaningless in a 22-game sample size.

 

[SilenceS]

Amazing stay from yesterday. The Cubs had 6 players hit it 90 mph or higher in the sixth inning yesterday. The swings have been great and we are destroying the league with opposite field ops

 

[SilenceS]

Defensive stats are meaningless in a 22-game sample size.

It shows that he isn’t just average or a tick above

 

[beckdawg]

I never said they cant move Javy, I just said that there no need to bring Russell up right away because the team doing fine with what they have going on now with the middle infield..
As far as Russell play, he hasn't been all that good offensively the last couple years, so it not like he will be coming back with a big offensive stick that needed in the lineup.

I don't know why you're bringing this up. Isn't the assumption here if Russell isn't better than what they have that he'll be optioned to AAA? I mean I look at it like this.... is he better than Zagunis because that's who he'd be replacing with Zobrist basically turning into a full time OF. I have a tough time making the case that Zagunis is better than Russell. He's a career .209/.292/.302 hitter and it's not like he's a strong defender. Whatever Russell's bat may be he's obviously a very good defensive SS.

What you do with the current set of guys after that I'm fine with whatever. I don't think they have to force Russell into SS. If that's what they think is the best match up cool. If not i'm cool with him riding the bench and basically being the SS version of what Almora has been early on. But either way for my money that's a more valuable player than Zagunis.

 

[SilenceS]

Baez range and arm is better than Russell. Baez problem was routine plays and this year. Those haven’t been an issue

 

[beckdawg]

It shows that he isn’t just average or a tick above

I mean top 10 isn't top 5 which was the quote I was referring to. I didn't say he was a bad short stop but there are certainly more than 5 SS who are better defensively than Baez.

 

[chibears55]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1121471399191773184

 

[chibears55]

I don't know why you're bringing this up. Isn't the assumption here if Russell isn't better than what they have that he'll be optioned to AAA? I mean I look at it like this.... is he better than Zagunis because that's who he'd be replacing with Zobrist basically turning into a full time OF. I have a tough time making the case that Zagunis is better than Russell. He's a career .209/.292/.302 hitter and it's not like he's a strong defender. Whatever Russell's bat may be he's obviously a very good defensive SS.

What you do with the current set of guys after that I'm fine with whatever. I don't think they have to force Russell into SS. If that's what they think is the best match up cool. If not i'm cool with him riding the bench and basically being the SS version of what Almora has been early on. But either way for my money that's a more valuable player than Zagunis.

I was answering you....

I had said previous that if they do bring him up, it will most likely be Zagunis going down..

 

[SilenceS]

I mean top 10 isn't top 5 which was the quote I was referring to. I didn't say he was a bad short stop but there are certainly more than 5 SS who are better defensively than Baez.

Add in bat and it’s between him and Lindor for the best SS in the league. Pretty amazing considering everything has had to do for this team and was never allowed to focus on one spot. He is 1.3 fWAR already.

 

[fatbeard]

It shows that he isn’t just average or a tick above

No, it doesn't. You can't derive any valid conclusion from a 22-game sample size when it comes to DRS:

"The other thing to remember is that DRS isn’t going to work well in small sample sizes, especially a couple of months or less. Once you get to one and three-year samples, it’s a relatively solid metric but defensive itself is quite variable so you need a good amount of data for the metrics to become particularly useful. There’s plenty more to say about this issue, but that’s for another entry. In general, DRS isn’t perfect because it doesn’t factor in shifts, positioning, and can’t perfectly measure everything it needs to, but it’s still among the best options out there."

DRS | Sabermetrics Library

Daily baseball statistical analysis and commentary.

library.fangraphs.com

 

[SilenceS]

No, it doesn't. You can't derive any valid conclusion from a 22-game sample size when it comes to DRS:

"The other thing to remember is that DRS isn’t going to work well in small sample sizes, especially a couple of months or less. Once you get to one and three-year samples, it’s a relatively solid metric but defensive itself is quite variable so you need a good amount of data for the metrics to become particularly useful. There’s plenty more to say about this issue, but that’s for another entry. In general, DRS isn’t perfect because it doesn’t factor in shifts, positioning, and can’t perfectly measure everything it needs to, but it’s still among the best options out there."

DRS | Sabermetrics Library

Daily baseball statistical analysis and commentary.

library.fangraphs.com

I can derive he isn’t average or a tick above.

 

[chibears55]

Add in bat and it’s between him and Lindor for the best SS in the league. Pretty amazing considering everything has had to do for this team and was never allowed to focus on one spot. He is 1.3 fWAR already.

You can also add in that he has a whole lot more then 22 games played at SS to look at

 

[beckdawg]

Add in bat and it’s between him and Lindor for the best SS in the league. Pretty amazing considering everything has had to do for this team and was never allowed to focus on one spot. He is 1.3 fWAR already.

I mean did you read my comment? I literally said he's easily a top 5 SS in the league if you include his bat and likely an MVP candidate if he continues to hit like he has. All I'm saying is people act like Javy is Simmons out there and he's not that good defensively. He's just not. He makes tons of flashy plays and that's great but just like his base running he often forces plays that end up errors because he's cocky like that and I mean that in a good way. People only remember the flashy plays and not the errors when he tries to force stuff and it doesn't work out. And the thing is great defense isn't about flashy plays. It's about the boring plays and making them every single time while limiting your mistakes. This is exactly the reason Joe played Russell at SS over Baez to begin with because while clearly from a tool stand point Javy has better tools, Russell consistently made the boring plays and limited mistakes.

So, Javy isn't Simmons. He's not lindor. He's not Brandon Crawford. He's not Jose Iglesias. There's any number of other SS who are better defensively than he is. You want to argue that the totality of him with his bat he's better than everyone but like Lindor? Sure that's a valid take. But that's not what I was talking about and literally went out of my way to distinguish what I was talking about.

 

[fatbeard]

I can derive he isn’t average or a tick above.

Fangraphs: You need 1-3 seasons worth of innings for DRS to be reliable

You: I have 22 games! Leeroy Jenkins!

 

[SilenceS]

I mean did you read my comment? I literally said he's easily a top 5 SS in the league if you include his bat and likely an MVP candidate if he continues to hit like he has. All I'm saying is people act like Javy is Simmons out there and he's not that good defensively. He's just not. He makes tons of flashy plays and that's great but just like his base running he often forces plays that end up errors because he's cocky like that and I mean that in a good way. People only remember the flashy plays and not the errors when he tries to force stuff and it doesn't work out. And the thing is great defense isn't about flashy plays. It's about the boring plays and making them every single time while limiting your mistakes. This is exactly the reason Joe played Russell at SS over Baez to begin with because while clearly from a tool stand point Javy has better tools, Russell consistently made the boring plays and limited mistakes.

So, Javy isn't Simmons. He's not lindor. He's not Brandon Crawford. He's not Jose Iglesias. There's any number of other SS who are better defensively than he is. You want to argue that the totality of him with his bat he's better than everyone but like Lindor? Sure that's a valid take. But that's not what I was talking about and literally went out of my way to distinguish what I was talking about.

He hasn’t forced this year. He forces mistakes on the base path because his instincts are maybe the best in the league. Simmons is probably the best defensive SS then they are some jumbling.crawford has lost a step. His range plays with anyone. You are only talking routine errors which, yet again, he has not had this year.

 

[anotheridiot]

In re Addy and Javy, I heard Ken Rosenthal this morning argue strenuously that it makes no sense to "take shortstop away" from Javy when Russel comes back, stating that, of course, being moved over to 2B would have to seem to Javy like a demotion or something.

Baez was asked several times, including after Addy started his suspension last year, whether he really prefers SS to 2B, and he said, basically, no, he likes 2B better. Playing 2B gives him more chances at being on the tagging end of catching runners stealing (which he enjoys), it gives him a more direct look at the batter to be able to track the ball off the bat, and doesn't require him to make long, accurate throws every single time he fields a grounder, which he said is more stressful than fun for him. It also seems to give him more chances to run into the outfield and make amazing over-the-shoulder catches, but I don't recall him mentioning that part.

So, from everything he's said in the past, Javier Baez would prefer to play second. When we get our excellent defensive SS back, why not let Javy play the position he's more comfortable with? I mean, yes, Javy is likely one of the best five shortstops in the game right now. But he can be one of the best second basemen, too. Why not let him play second, if he likes it better?

-Doug

well, this year, Javy said, I am a shortstop, I always think of myself as a shortstop, he thinks he is one of the best shortstops in the league.

Its the glory position that Russell never had to earn, it was just given to him. Push Castro to second in 2015, sure, he was the better player, but I highly doubt Javy would not love to stay at short.