Bryan LaHair to be called up

[CODE_BLUE56]

The debate of me being Jim Hendry? Yes, I guess I lose that debate. It's true, I am Jim Hendry.

this is now going to be my sig

:yeah:

 

[Rice Cube]

LaHair seemed to have a swing-happy approach but got one good contact hit and one lucky hit. He also almost killed the pitcher on an infield hit that was changed to a reached-on-error because Ronny Cedeno sucks. Not a bad debut at all.

 

[Captain Obvious]

First off, there's more to getting a look at him during those starts than just the stats. I know, you statheads don't comprehend such. However, you can see the guy's approach at the plate, the mechanics of his swing, how he's making contact, whether or not his swing needs a ton of work... etc. These things, you can't find in any stat... period, but are relied upon by scouts, GMs, coaches, managers, etc as much (and in most cases moreso) as any stat you can dish up or create.

If a guy is hitting .200 and is nailing line drives right at guys... this is different than a guy hitting .150 and is lucky to make contact in more than 70% of his AB. If LaHair is failing to put up numbers, but looking good at the plate... then extend his shot into ST. If he's putting up those numbers in the same situation... I think you begin to rethink the approach on how to rebuild this team over the winter. If he is showing signs of a bad swing, mechanics, or approach... then he goes back to Iowa. He's too old to recreate a swing, or to change his approach without having any substantial experience at this level.

And before you go onto your next ignorant tirade about assuming I don't know what I'm talking about (I actually played and coached this game for many years at levels beyond little league/sandlots with), I'm not saying that stats don't matter. I'm saying that they're not the only things that do matter.

Secondly, I'm not sure Colvin deserves to go to ST with a shot at making the team either. At this point, I'm more inclined to say he's not, but he'll be there nonetheless. I haven't really looked up his stats since coming back up, but he has looked better at the plate than he did before his demotion... but no where near where he was last year.

Stats are what tells us if his BA, which is stupid stat in the first place, is sustainable or not. LD%, BABIP, Contact %, they all tell us what you seem to think stats can't tell us. Why would we change our rebuild plan based off of how he does this month? He's a space filler, it's not like he is the 1B of the future or anything even close to that.

Congrats, you coached. I bet that was a fun thing to do. I'm not saying you don't know anything, I'm saying that being a coach doesn't matter. I realize what you're saying, but numbers are going to tell us more than the eyeball will and they don't bullshit around.

 

[Jntg4]

28 is the new 15, don't you know?!

Shit, that's way too young to be called up!

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

Stats are what tells us if his BA, which is stupid stat in the first place, is sustainable or not. LD%, BABIP, Contact %, they all tell us what you seem to think stats can't tell us. Why would we change our rebuild plan based off of how he does this month? He's a space filler, it's not like he is the 1B of the future or anything even close to that.

Congrats, you coached. I bet that was a fun thing to do. I'm not saying you don't know anything, I'm saying that being a coach doesn't matter. I realize what you're saying, but numbers are going to tell us more than the eyeball will and they don't bullshit around.

being a coach doesnt matter? are you serious? why would it not make an impact on one's approach to the game?

and stats may tell us more than the human brain and eye can comprehend in one game..however

A. you have to think about the context of the stats aka team,lineup positioning,etc.

B. Stats still dont tell the whole story..it is damn near impossible to cram all the variables that go into sports(especially baseball) into one statistic....you cannot simply transfer every single second or aspect or thing a player or team does and convert it to hard data..because baseball is not purely numerical

you have to consider some moderation between stats and the eye test...though i myself sometimes like to lean towards stats as a reference

 

[nwfisch]

No matter what LaHair does, it shouldn't be an ultimatium on whether or not LaHair can play somewhere at the MLB level. It shouldn't change the idea that the Cubs shouldn't re-sign Pena or other 1B help.

Spoiler

I'll take 2SeamHeat's opinion over someone who copies and pastes numbers from Fangraphs and tells people that their numbers are the worst to use, yet their numbers are so much better.

 

[Rice Cube]

you have to consider some moderation between stats and the eye test...though i myself sometimes like to lean towards stats as a reference

This is key. If you don't have enough info on a player yet, you have to rely on scouts. For LaHair, though, he's been in the minors so long that he has plenty of sample from which we can predict how he will likely do. That doesn't mean he shouldn't be given more starts though, especially now that the season's basically lost (E# = 1)

 

[Jntg4]

I can expect that out of him, but that doesn't mean he'll rake MLB pitching, nor do I necessarily think he will.
Forgive me for trying to be optimistic about a prospect. Not everyone can beast like Soto.

We aren't talking about a prospect here, we are talking about Brian LaHair...

 

[nwfisch]

Numerous players have been listed here who have succeeded after the age of 28. Don't write the book on LaHair after this season.

 

[Rice Cube]

We aren't talking about a prospect here, we are talking about Brian LaHair...

This is also important to know

 

[Jntg4]

The debate of me being Jim Hendry? Yes, I guess I lose that debate. It's true, I am Jim Hendry.

EDIT: Or did you mean the debate of LaHair being a 10-time all-star? I guess I lose that one too. Damn you, common sense!

I knew it... :thinking:

 

[Uman85]

Being a coach doesn't matter and neither does playing? I've read some dumb things before, but that might be the dumbest thing I've seen on CCS.

 

[CODE_BLUE56]

This is key. If you don't have enough info on a player yet, you have to rely on scouts. For LaHair, though, he's been in the minors so long that he has plenty of sample from which we can predict how he will likely do. That doesn't mean he shouldn't be given more starts though, especially now that the season's basically lost (E# = 1)

agreed..thats partly why there are scouts in the first place

 

[Jntg4]

CO's an umpire. He has to hate the damn managers.

I've umped too...

 

[2SeamHeat]

Stats are what tells us if his BA, which is stupid stat in the first place, is sustainable or not. LD%, BABIP, Contact %, they all tell us what you seem to think stats can't tell us. Why would we change our rebuild plan based off of how he does this month? He's a space filler, it's not like he is the 1B of the future or anything even close to that.

Congrats, you coached. I bet that was a fun thing to do. I'm not saying you don't know anything, I'm saying that being a coach doesn't matter. I realize what you're saying, but numbers are going to tell us more than the eyeball will and they don't bullshit around.

And yet if this were true... you wouldn't see guys like Adam Dunn ever make it to the big leagues. Jim Thome should have never reached 600 HR, as he had just 52 in nearly 1500 AB in the minors. Matt Murton should have been a perennial All Star. That Babe Ruth guy, would have pitched his way to early retirement after 8 years or so. Tuffy Rhodes, he should be looking at a first ballot HoF induction right now.... here... not in Japan.

All of these guys, their minor league numbers and initial callup numbers betray the outcomes of their MLB careers. In other words, when it comes to actual assessment of inexperienced (usually young) players... numbers are... much more often than not... overlooked. It's the things that numbers do not tell us that are taken much more seriously. Ask Greg Maddux how he made it through his first 180+ IP... if it was the numbers that told us everything.

By the way, you'll have a very hard time finding any team that uses a heavier look at stats than appearance of performance in assessing a young player. Even the metric masters of Boston and Oakland have been known to throw stats away when it comes to young players.

 

[Jntg4]

nwfisch is Bryan LaHair...

 

[nwfisch]

nwfisch is Bryan LaHair...

 

[Captain Obvious]

being a coach doesnt matter? are you serious? why would it not make an impact on one's approach to the game?

and stats may tell us more than the human brain and eye can comprehend in one game..however

A. you have to think about the context of the stats aka team,lineup positioning,etc.

B. Stats still dont tell the whole story..it is damn near impossible to cram all the variables that go into sports(especially baseball) into one statistic....you cannot simply transfer every single second or aspect or thing a player or team does and convert it to hard data..because baseball is not purely numerical

you have to consider some moderation between stats and the eye test...though i myself sometimes like to lean towards stats as a reference

Sure being a coach will change one's approach, but how does it make him any more or less intelligent about the MLB? Unless he has coached at the professional level, I don't see that it matters. Hell, even if he did coach at the MLB level, I'm not so sure that it matters. There are so really stupid people that are managers, coaches, etc.

I agree that stats don't tell you everything, but they give you the big picture and that's what matters. Sure, they don't tell you that Tony Campana hustled or that Ramirez didn't run out the pop up to the SS, but those things really don't matter that much. Ramirez is still a good player and Campana still sucks. Stats tell us that. I think that the little things just delude the bigger picture and make it harder to see what really matters.

 

[Jntg4]

 

[Uman85]

CO should be banned for stupidity.