12/31/09

Ike Davis, July 2009, BABIP, Jason... and the Tavern on the Green


Ike Davis:


Surely Ike Davis can beat out Daniel Murphy for the first base job. His .341 average with four homeruns and 16 RBIs in 21 games would seem to think he could.  -  mwob






July 2009:

Murphy, the full-time first baseman, made the team's play of the year at Citi Field, flipping the ball behind his back to achieve an out in a July 8 contest against the Dodgers in a game that marked the return of Perez. The following days put Fernando Martinez on the DL and brought Francoeur to the Mets in an unexpected deal with the Braves for Church. Santana, Rodriguez and Wright represented the Mets at the All-Star Game in St. Louis.

Wright's bizarre season continued. The leading hitter in the league for much of June, he produced a 1-for-23 stretch in the first days of July. His home run output continued well below his norm, and his strikeout total continued to skyrocket. His season would produce 10 homers and 72 RBIs -- both figures well below his averages for four full seasons -- and a career-high 140 strikeouts despite missing two weeks in August.

The remainder of the month brought yet another serious injury -- Fernando Nieve tore his right quadriceps in Atlanta in July, and he, too, was lost for the season after providing several solid starts -- a disabled-list assignment for Sheffield and six days of tension and embarrassment for the organization. Minaya dismissed his special assistant, Tony Bernazard, after a series of reports in The New York Daily News about Bernazard's behavior prompted an investigation. In announcing the dismissal, Minaya tied the newspaper accounts to the reporter's having sought employment with the club. He and COO Jeff Wilpon later apologized for the remarks.

The Mets won five straight games, two in Houston and three at home against the Rockies from July 25-30, but two more July losses left them 10 1/2 games from first place when July ended. They would win two straight games three more times before the end of September. Wright hit his seventh home run on the final day of the month -- his first at Citi since June 9 and his fourth overall at home. - nym 


BABIP:

The average BABIP (batting average on balls in play) from the nearly half a million plate appearances captured by this study is .305 with a standard deviation if .027. Shin-Soo Choo's .376 BABIP put him at a MLB best 2.610 deviations above the mean (1075 PA). When I've thought about BABIP in the past, I've figured that trends and fluctuations are largely caused by line-drive rates and a player's speed. But I started to run across samples this offseason that made me wonder if a big piece of the puzzle was being overlooked: flyballs.  -  projectprospect.  






Jason Bay:

By now, you all have heard what Jason Bay is all about. He has a traditional "old-players game" of power and patience. According to FanGraphs, over the past three calendar years, Bay has a .225 ISO and a 12.4% walk rate, 23rd and 24th respectively in each category. As a hitter, he's posted excellent numbers each of the last three seasons, compiling a .267/.362/.493 slash line that's good for a .371 wOBA.  -  beyondtheboxscore. 



Tavern On The Green:

New York's Tavern on the Green restaurant, a sumptuous tourist trap set in a lush grove in Central Park, will serve its last meal on New Year's Eve before changing hands.

The restaurant, notorious among New Yorkers for its rude and laggardly waiting staff, has for years been one of the highest grossing independently owned eateries in the US, serving crab cakes and Caesar salads to tourists who gaze out onto the park from richly appointed dining rooms furnished with chandeliers, stained glass murals and silver candelabras. - guardian.

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