While I was looking for the links today, looking for news on Delmon Young and why he was away from the team, and I came across this article. I understand that many people don’t want to see Delmon Young in the outfield. I’ve made my peace with that. There are many reasonable arguments for it, namely Young is a less than quality outfield, and his power numbers are not where we want them to be for a corner outfielder. That being said, it’s things like this that irritate me.
The facts the author, Andrew Scherber, spells out are a perfect example of looking at small sample sizes and going into a situation with a bias. Let’s review:
Gomez critics cite his high- strikeout propensity, low batting average (.214) and on-base percentage (.274), and terrible approach at the plate as reasons why he should be sitting on the bench.
But Young’s approach and plate discipline are equally as bad.
Well, not even close, actually. Young is hitting .60 higher, and last season, hit .30 higher. I’ll give him the next point, about the walks. However in that same sentence, where he mentions that Young leads the team in strikeouts, he fails to mention that they have roughly the same strikeout rate.
Gomez has scored just as many runs as Young, too (10).
The only reason this would be a valid point is if both Gomez and Young got their hits, called “ghost runner!” and then ran back and hit. It’s not Young’s fault he hits ahead of Nick Punto, and Gomez is often a pinch runner, who gets put on base without getting hits, and gets to be on in front of RBI machines.
In 83 plate appearances, Young has only one home run and even more astonishing: only two extra base hits all year (that single home run included). There are dozens of players in the minor leagues who could hit .270 with little to no power, nothing special.
Again, I would rather have Young, hitting .277, in the lineup than the guy hitting .214. As for the 2 extra base hits, I would like to point out that it’s fricking MAY. Barely halfway through, at that. And Delmon Young is a slow starter. He was last year, and ended up being solid down the stretch. Again, maybe Delmon would start getting better pitches to drive were he not batting ahead of Nick Punto.
Argue that you prefer speed and defense over offense, and I have no problem with you. We may differ philosophically, but it’s not like either of us are going to change our preferences. Trying to railroad the superior offensive player by using bullsh*t statistical analysis is where I have the problem.
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