He is certainly a streaky hitter. I've come to simply roll with his valleys because I know the peaks are real. And they're fabulous.
What happened to JBJ's cannon?
- Thread starter Whiteroom802
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Maybe part of that is having Beni and Betts on either side of him. He certainly doesn't have to come to their rescue often.
As to the question about JBJ's arm, I think it's accuracy is the casualty of putting on a bunch of upper body strength as needed to put good swings on MLB's usual mid-90 fastballs.
He's a lot bigger than he was in 2014. It makes him a little slower afoot, and his throws markedly less accurate.
OTOH, he's not a complete zero-or-worse defensively even with poorly located throws. And he needed to do something, anything, to help his offensive game.
He's a lot bigger than he was in 2014. It makes him a little slower afoot, and his throws markedly less accurate.
OTOH, he's not a complete zero-or-worse defensively even with poorly located throws. And he needed to do something, anything, to help his offensive game.
I think it's mostly just a matter of playing time. His putouts per game are right up there, but JBJ has played between 9 and 16 fewer games than the center fielders ahead of him in putouts.
Duh. Good point. I forgot about his injury earlier this year. It was so early in the season and he's been so often in the lineup since then.
Edit: I often think that the Sox fortunes' turn on JBJ's offense, since he's basically the anchor of the bottom of the lineup, but looking at his splits there might actually be something to that.
In wins: 319/426/582 (BABIP .358)
In losses: 179/261/308 (BABIP .196)
That's pretty stark.
But maybe that's just everyone.
Here's Mookie:
In wins: 331/434/615 (BABIP .317)
In losses: 209/243/336 (BABIP .219)
And Benintendi:
In wins: 349/386/530 (BABIP .363)
In losses: 153/275/259 (BABIP .164)
Hey guys, apparently players don't hit as well in losses as they do in wins. Who knew?
Edit: I often think that the Sox fortunes' turn on JBJ's offense, since he's basically the anchor of the bottom of the lineup, but looking at his splits there might actually be something to that.
In wins: 319/426/582 (BABIP .358)
In losses: 179/261/308 (BABIP .196)
That's pretty stark.
But maybe that's just everyone.
Here's Mookie:
In wins: 331/434/615 (BABIP .317)
In losses: 209/243/336 (BABIP .219)
And Benintendi:
In wins: 349/386/530 (BABIP .363)
In losses: 153/275/259 (BABIP .164)
Hey guys, apparently players don't hit as well in losses as they do in wins. Who knew?
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FWIW... He's at 2.0 bWAR, consisting of 1.2 offense, 0.9 defense. (either rounding is involved or he gave back a run on baserunning?)
There's gotta be something to his "decline" in defense with how good Betts and Benintendi are. I don't know how (and I still have such a hard time with defensive stats) different ones are used... but if JBJ had shitty slow and poor positioning fielders to either side of him, I can easily imagine him covering more ground and making more plays.
I wonder who plays on either side out of the CF'ers ranked ahead of him in defensive stats....
I wonder who plays on either side out of the CF'ers ranked ahead of him in defensive stats....
My observation from last year is that, in contrast to most CFs, Bradley plays to backup most balls hit toward the gaps, rather than to make the play himself. It seems similar this year, but a bit less pronounced.
The advantages would seem to be that (1) it takes advantage of the superior raw foot speed of the corner outfielders; (2) either corner outfielder can run balls out to make the play on a gap shot without much fear of collision; (3) the hardest-throwing OF gets to make the throw back into the infield when a play isn't made; and (4) you can position the CF back farther relative to the flanking outfielders to hopefully catch more shots hit into the deepest part of the park. The downside is that the CF gets no credit for plays made by the LF and RF.
I was going to do an in-depth piece for the .com last season about JBJ's disappearing dWAR, but things got in the way.
I think the Pirates outfield in recent years is a good comp, even though JBJ appears fundamentally better playing CF than McCutcheon did when he was first flanked by Polanco and Marte.
Interesting question. Starting with the three guys who rank ahead of him in DRS (which likes him a whole lot better than UZR this year):
Buxton -- Max Kepler (+4), Eddie Rosario (+1)
Kiermaier -- Stephen Souza (+4), and a rotating cast of characters in left adding up to +7
Hicks -- Gardner (+7), Judge (+4)
So no, the guys ahead of JBJ (in DRS at least) are not playing with stiffs alongside them. OTOH none of them is playing with a Mookie Betts-caliber defender alongside them, either. I don't think Benintendi is taking plays away from JBJ, but Betts probably is. Anecdotally I feel like I've seen a lot of plays on fly balls in the gap where either of them could have taken it but Betts got there first and JBJ let him have it.
Wasn't this concept the whole idea behind James' Win Shares ?
IIRC, the basic idea is that there are only 27 (minus strikeouts) outs to distribute amongst the defenders. If a great defender plays on an, otherwise , bad defensive team there are more opportunities to record a putout. In essence each player is in competition with the other players on a given team.
I digression I admit ....but, given this thread is about outfielders' arms ... that throw from Benintendi last night was sweet. On- the-fly right into the mitt without a bounce.
He certainly doesn't have the rifle that Bradley does .....but his throws are strong and on the money whether to a base or a cut-off. Fun to watch.
He certainly doesn't have the rifle that Bradley does .....but his throws are strong and on the money whether to a base or a cut-off. Fun to watch.
From last night's game I would also add that JBJ's throw from (very) deep center on Altuve's leadoff double was a one-hop seed directly to Rutledge at 3B.