Upon Cheaters

According to reports pouring in from everywhere, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were among the players who tested positive for steroids in 2003. ESPN has a story here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4366335

The sanctimony and pride that all Boston fans have in their titles must be tempered. You didn’t do it the right way, you just cheated better than the rest. There is no more high and mighty, above the fracas attitude. Your key guys were juiceheads, just like A-Rod is being slammed for being. You needed cheaters to win a title.

Yes Yankees did steroids, but you are no better.

Upon Wright vs Jeter

As many of you know, the topic of Derek Jeter vs David Wright became a point of contention on this blog earlier in the year. Since today is a particularly slow day at the office, I thought it might be a good time to examine the respecitve seasons of each player thus far.

Raw Numbers:

 Batting Average:  Jeter .321, Wright .318

RBI: Wright 48, Jeter 43

OBP: Wright .409, Jeter .398

OPS: Wright .864, Jeter .855

HR:  Jeter 11, Wright 6

Hits: Jeter 123, Wright 115

Runs: Jeter 63, Wright 62

BB/SO: Jeter 46/51, Wright 55/94

Steals (Caught):  Wright 21(8), Jeter 18 (4)

RISP Avg: Wright .339, Jeter .289

2-out RISP:  Jeter .306, Wright .235

So what can we make of the above numbers? Certainly there are outside factors at play. The two play in different leagues, ballparks, and lineups. They face different pitchers (with the exception of interleague).

So lets look at their interleague numbers:

Wright- .213, 13 hits, 5 runs, 0 HR, 6 RBI, .525 OPS

Jeter- .390, 23 hits, 15 runs,  3 Hr, 6 RBI, 1.048 OPS

Now in interleague play, the Mets and the rest of the NL East played the Yankees and the rest of the AL East. Based on these numbers, Jeter had a much better time against the teams that Wright usually faces. Vice-versa, not so much. Let’s look at the head to head, Yankees vs Mets

Jeter vs Mets- .533, 8 hits, 5 runs, 1 Hr, 4 RBI, 1.411 OPS

Wright vs Yankees- .217, 5 hits, 2 runs, 0 HR, 1 RBI, .584 OPS.

So, in this head-to-head matchup, Jeter has a clear edge.

 

Again, what can we make of these numbers? First, I think reports of Jeter’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Second, Wright is clearly working with a handicapped lineup. Third, an injured Alex Rodriguez, who may need additional surgery is clearly out slugging Wright, and his numbers in half as many at-bats are on pace to dwarf Wright’s by season’s end. Again, the respective lineups and ballparks can be sighted as reasons. One could argue that Wright would be successful in the HR friendly new Yankee Stadium as opposed to the pitcher’s park Citi Field. However, the numbers of Jeter and A-Rod vs the NL suggest that they would be putting up superior numbers to Wright if they faced the inferior NL pitching on a regular basis. Not to continue to harp on A-Rod, but his road numbers beat Wright’s as well with the exception of average.

As for the argument about Wright’s lineup (or lack thereof) I would point to Ryan Zimmerman. With the awful Nationals surrounding him, he has put up similar numbers to Wright, and his slugging numbers are  much higher (17 HR and 60 RBI). 

So what do we make of these numbers? Thoughts?

Upon a Return

As some of you may know, I recently got married, and in the build-up to the big event and subsequent honeymoon, I have been out of the blogging loop. Some quick catching up:

The Yankees are 1 game behind the Boston Red Sox, after a sweep of the Tigers and yesterday’s loss by Boston to Toronto. From the limited access I had on my cruise, I saw that the Yankees managed to gain a tie with the Sox before a sweep at the hands of long-time nemeses the Angels right before the All-Star break. A one-game deficit at this point in the season makes the wild card (which the Yankees lead by 3.5 games over the Rays) a nice fall-back option, but leaves the division well within reach. A mere .500 record against the Sox would have the Yankees comfortably in first, but they have to start winning games against their rival to make that even a possibility.

The Mets appear to be in real trouble. Their 4th place standing in the NL East, and their large wild card deficit can not be comforting for Met fans. The defending champion Phillies have gotten hot, and many of the Met stars continue to be injured. David Wright can not do it alone,  and the acquisition of Jeff Francoeur does not seem to be the answer at this point. It is a shame that such a promising season has gone this way, because much of the heat has gone out of the NY vs NY rivalry. Considering the leads the Mets have blown in recent years, it is not impossible to imagine that their is a miracle comeback left in them, but rapid recoveries and strings of wins are needed quickly. The rough stretch in the schedule I mentioned in earlier posts proved as costly as I had imagined:

1-2 @ Yankees

1-2 @ Balt

1-2 vs Tampa

3-1 vs St. Louis

0-3 vs Yankees

1-2 vs Mil

0-3 @ Philly

1-2 vs Dodgers

2-1 vs Cincy

Baseball is a funny game, and while some predicted that age and injury would hurt the Yankees, the Mets are the team whose hopes have been dashed to this point by health problems. We will see how the season progresses. I will be much more bloggy in upcoming days and weeks.