Official Game Thread - 8/31 - Bucs @ Guardians

[Doc]

Well lookie, lookie, cookie, cookie. The Bucs win, the Bucs win. Chapman closes it down the way it should be done. Ortiz was brilliant yet again. I hope he can take this into next year and remain solid.

[Surgnbuck]

So happy to see the starter get the win.

Gonzo with a 3-5 night so good to see. Cutch 1-3 with the game winning RBI as it turns out.

Rowdy super clutch.

Reynolds with the defensive gems.

They just mentioned this is the anniversary of Aroldis Chapman MLB debut. What a way to celebrate.

One down, 9 more to go to get back to .500

Sellout crowd in Cleveland, nice.

Pirates with 63 wins now, guarantees they won't lose 100.

[Surgnbuck]

8-19 for August. Comparisons have been made to this team and the 2011 and 2012 teams.

August
2011- 8-22 Record on July 31st: 54-52 third place 4.5 GB, 7.5 GB in WC (last season of 1 WC). Finish: 72-90, 4th (out of 6 teams) 24 GB, 17 GB in WC
2012-11-17 Record 7/31: 59-44 second 3 GB, Tied with Atl for WC,(first season of 2 WC), 4 games up. Finish: 79-83, 4th (6 teams) 18 GB, 9 GB in WC
2024- 8-19 Record on July 31st: 55-53, tied for second 6 GB, 2 GB in WC

So yeah, looks more like the 2011 squad, though it seems talent wise they are more like the 2012 squad. But the 2012 squad had the record collapse. They went 7-21 in September. August 31st, they were in third and 10 games out, but only half game out of the WC. September would be where the real collapse would occur. I remember we went into August thinking division and a certain WC. We entered September thinking contending for WC rest of the way and certainly having a winning record. In my lifetime, there has been no greater gut punch to being a Pirate fan other than game 7 in 1992, and that was just one game. From a season standpoint, I hope we never see what happened in 2012 again.

[Surgnbuck]

Chapman is wearing a shirt with the United States Marine Corps logo superimposed over a capital letter "A"....I wonder what that's about

[Wildwoodcoach]

Only got to see the last two innings. Ortiz seems to have pitched a gem.
I did get to see two very good catches by Reynolds. I was surprised to read
that Reynolds has the worst fielding percentage of all Left Fielders.

[Bobster]

Only got to see the last two innings. Ortiz seems to have pitched a gem.
I did get to see two very good catches by Reynolds. I was surprised to read
that Reynolds has the worst fielding percentage of all Left Fielders.

I was surprised at that too. I know it's based ln defensive metrics. But the eye test tells me he's pretty solid in the OF.

[Doc]

Only got to see the last two innings. Ortiz seems to have pitched a gem.
I did get to see two very good catches by Reynolds. I was surprised to read
that Reynolds has the worst fielding percentage of all Left Fielders.

I was surprised at that too. I know it's based ln defensive metrics. But the eye test tells me he's pretty solid in the OF.

I was informed back on the old PMB that I was a dinosaur for still believing in the eye test, that it was useless. Only numbers derived from PhD-type calculations can determine a player's abilities and value. Watching a player actually play was so 20th Century.

[Bobster]

Only got to see the last two innings. Ortiz seems to have pitched a gem.
I did get to see two very good catches by Reynolds. I was surprised to read
that Reynolds has the worst fielding percentage of all Left Fielders.

I was surprised at that too. I know it's based ln defensive metrics. But the eye test tells me he's pretty solid in the OF.

I was informed back on the old PMB that I was a dinosaur for still believing in the eye test, that it was useless. Only numbers derived from PhD-type calculations can determine a player's abilities and value. Watching a player actually play was so 20th Century.
[/quote
Yeah, the thing about those calculations is that fans cannot compute them. We just get told what someone's number is. BA, OBP, SLG, ERA all have specific meanings. But now we get someone's total zone rating of how many runs he theoretically saves. And players are rated on that theory. Just like WAR. Players are rated by how many more imaginary runs they are good for than an imaginary AAA player who could theoretically replace them. And it's not a value fans can compute. We just get told what each player's exact number is. But the result is that players who fans know are good have higher scores than players that fans know are not as good. So fans don't really need to consult WAR if they pay enough attention to how the players perform.

[Doc]

I was surprised at that too. I know it's based ln defensive metrics. But the eye test tells me he's pretty solid in the OF.

I was informed back on the old PMB that I was a dinosaur for still believing in the eye test, that it was useless. Only numbers derived from PhD-type calculations can determine a player's abilities and value. Watching a player actually play was so 20th Century.
[/quote
Yeah, the thing about those calculations is that fans cannot compute them. We just get told what someone's number is. BA, OBP, SLG, ERA all have specific meanings. But now we get someone's total zone rating of how many runs he theoretically saves. And players are rated on that theory. Just like WAR. Players are rated by how many more imaginary runs they are good for than an imaginary AAA player who could theoretically replace them. And it's not a value fans can compute. We just get told what each player's exact number is. But the result is that players who fans know are good have higher scores than players that fans know are not as good. So fans don't really need to consult WAR if they pay enough attention to how the players perform.

I’ve always felt the same way. From the time we were kids we’ve understood what it meant for a player to have a certain batting average, home run and RBI totals, wins, and ERA. And all of them were easy to compute because they were found through basic arithmetic. Those stats still hold true today, I don’t care what the geeks say.