Posts belonging to Category Griffin Phelps

Yesterday I took a look at Jose Bautista and whether his 2010 season was a fluke. Now, let’s move over to the NL and take a look at a guy that many are hoping regains his 2009 form, and forgets about his pathetic 2010 campaign (especially myself considering that I drafted him last year).  He set a career low in batting average.  He nearly tied his career high in strikeouts.  He hit 50% fewer HR’s than he did in 2009.  He is incredibly likable.  He has an awesome nickname.  He is the Kung-Fu Panda.  He is Pablo Sandoval.  So let’s take a look at things and ask, which year was the fluke, 2009 or 2010?

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Merriam-Webster defines a fluke as a stroke of luck. As a self-proclaimed fantasy nerd, I am always on the lookout for guys who I think might have had a fluky season.  It does not matter to me if the season in question was a positive or negative; I just want to know if a player is destined to continue down the same path as the previous year, or if his numbers for the next season are going to regress back toward the norm.  With that being said, let’s take a look at two guys that have left tons of fantasy players wondering, “was last year a fluke?”

He was Major League Baseball’s home run leader in 2010 despite never previously hitting more than 16 home runs in a single season.  He touched up baseballs with the ferocity of an early Mike Tyson.  His name is Jose Bautista and is the most obvious choice for this article.

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So much for it “being in the bag,” I guess.  As some of my readers may know (although most of you may not), I am a lifelong Houston Astros fan.  The first piece of sports memorabilia I ever had as a young child was a Colt .45’s jersey.  Having been born and raised in Houston for 10 years also helps.  I grew up watching baseball in the 8^th wonder of the modern world and learned quickly to despise the Cardinals.  More times than I can count I was fortunate enough to watch The Wizard himself perform on the Astroturf stage.

So what is the point of this rambling?  As an avid Astros fan, I feel that Jeff Bagwell should have been elected into the Hall of Fame.  As a matter of fact, I find it downright offensive to see that he only received 242, or 41.7% of the votes needed.  How could the writers not give one of the original Killer B’s his comeuppance?  I understand that some arguments will be made based on him playing in Houston, for a team that never seemed to find a way past the Braves.  But let’s just take a look at the stats and see what they have to say.

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After hearing about Cliff Lee duping the entire world, forgoing destinations like Texas and New York and returning back to Philadelphia, I can’t help but find the similarities between this free agent signing and Lebron James.  I’m not trying to say that Lee pulled something like “The Decision.”  I am trying to say that what Lee did was find some running mates to help get him to the top.  Most people seem to think that this is the route traveled by spineless men.  Some of the most popular condemnations I have heard of LeBron center around the idea that he couldn’t get it done on his own.  That he was afraid of taking on the challenge by himself.  This is absurd.  Any smart person, be it a professional athlete or a successful business leader, knows that to reach the highest levels of success, they must surround themselves with the best team.

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In the game of baseball it is common place to hear somebody talking about “playing the game the right way.”  The right way means a few things.  It means not taking a single pitch off.  It means conducting yourself like a professional.  It means that as a player, you are willing to sacrifice your body for the team’s success.  Today, on ESPN.com, I watched Buster Olney’s video blog and could not believe what I was hearing come from his mouth.

In talking about the Indians rookie phenom catcher, Carlos Santana, Olney began to question the value of catchers blocking home plate.  I get that he is talking about managing investments.  From a business stand point, it makes logical sense.  If this is the most important part of my organization, I need to protect my asset.  In a day and age where first year professionals are touted as the greatest thing since sliced bread, owners have become much more conservative in their approach to player development.  Just look at Stephen Strasburg.  Shoulder stiffness, straight to the 15 day DL for you.  Or look at the debate surrounding pitch counts.  Are they throwing too much?  Are they not throwing enough?

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