Kill the supervisors…

The problems with MLB umpiring run deeper than the supervisors, but there are unions and processes to follow. Yet there have been three firings.

Geek-a-palooza

This past weekend in Boston, the fourth annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference was held, with over 1000 in attendance. Among the panelists discussing the use of analytics was Cardinals assistant GM John Abbamondi. Here is a very good recap.

Changing channels?

Though the blood of the Cardinals part-ownership of KTRS would seem to trump the history of the team’s relationship with KMOX, the subject of the radio broadcast rights shifting is at least being discussed again.

BP puts Cards at bottom

Baseball Prospectus has followed up their individual player rankings by system and their top 100 with their organizational rankings, with the Cardinals sitting at #30 of 30. Compared to some other rankings, this feels somewhat subjective, though there may be some methodology behind it that I cannot see.

HGH testing unclear

The commissioner says he doesn’t know if or when testing for HGH in minor leaguers will be ready. Doesn’t make you wonder why they announced it, then? (Also note Bud Selig’s comments defending MLB’s minority hiring near the bottom of the piece.)

In the spirit

This link was posted on The Cardinal Nation message board and the video is so well done I decided to share it here, as well. It should put any Cardinals fan in the right frame of mind for the upcoming season.

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In each of these initial series, the home club took two of three (with the final of the original four-game Chicago series rained out and rescheduled to July 12). As a result, the clubs’ season series against each other is knotted at 3-3.

Not being totally satisfied with that, I decided to take a look at comparative stats over the six contests. Sure, some players have been out due to injuries on both sides, but this is an accurate representation of the results by those able to suit up.

The data is reflected in terms of hitting splits, yet some pitching conclusions are evident in this context, as well.

2009 thru 6G H2H	AB	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG
StL hitters	203	34	0.271	0.359	0.483
ChC hitters	218	30	0.275	0.342	0.413
StL LH hitters	84	10	0.238	0.323	0.369
ChC LH hitters	91	17	0.297	0.356	0.451
StL RH hitters	119	24	0.294	0.384	0.563
ChC RH hitters	127	13	0.260	0.331	0.386
StL two outs	60	7	0.183	0.269	0.283
ChC two outs	68	14	0.279	0.380	0.426
StL RISP	70	25	0.271	0.338	0.414
ChC RISP	59	22	0.237	0.338	0.390
StL pinch-hitters	9	2	0.444	0.583	0.778
ChC pinch-hitters	8	0	0.125	0.300	0.125
vs. ChC starters	139	22	0.266	0.329	0.475
vs. StL starters	132	18	0.288	0.347	0.386
vs. ChC relievers	64	12	0.281	0.418	0.500
vs. StL relievers	86	12	0.256	0.333	0.453

The Cardinals hitters drove in more runs and accumulated higher on-base and slugging percentages. The Cubs’ left-handed hitters were more productive than were St. Louis’, but the Cardinals’ right-handed batters, who of course saw more at-bats, had a bigger edge in stats.

Though the Cubs two-out hitters were more productive, the Cardinals out-produced them with runners in scoring position. The weakened position of the Cubs’ bench is evident in the pinch-hitting results.

In terms of pitching, the Cubs starters yielded more runs than did the Cardinals starters, despite having better batting average and OBP against. Where the Cubs fell down is in slugging, where the Cardinals hitters had a significant advantage.

Looking at the relievers, the Cardinals group allowed the same number of runs as their Cubs peers, but they registered superior slash stats in all three areas despite facing considerably more opposing hitters.

To bring this point home, here is a summary of the respective pitching staffs’ results through the six games. The Cardinals pitchers clearly come out on top.

2009 thru 6G H2H	ERA	BB	K
StL pitchers	4.77	22	54
ChC pitchers	5.67	25	45

Overall through two series, I would have to give the imaginary stats tiebreaker to the Cardinals. There are ten more regular-season games to go, with the next match ups coming on May 19-21 in St. Louis.

With 11 games played and eight wins in the bank, the team is one or often two decisions ahead of the other clubs. Still, the Cards have some impressive stats in the average as well as the counting categories.

Here is a very quick run through some of the team highlights.

Offense

Batting average: #1 in the NL at .299. The next closest club, the Mets, are 17 points behind.

Home runs: #1 (tied) with 13.

When is the last time the Cards paced the NL in long balls for an entire season? It was way, way back in 1940. Johnny Mize led the Cardinals, the National League and MLB with 43 home runs, so he gets the photo.

The original “Big Cat” was my personal choice as the #13 Cardinals player of all time. Though Mize came out #18 in the final voting, I offered a case comparing his numbers with those of Albert Pujols. Though he didn’t remain a Cardinal as long, Mize’s stats were Pujolsian.

Though the Cardinals finishing number one in the NL in home runs likely won’t happen in 2009, it is a fine start.

Sacrifices: #1 with 11. A stat that shows a team working together. The next closest team total is seven.

Strikeouts: Fifth fewest at 58. Good to see that with all the offense the club isn’t striking out a lot.

On-base percentage: #1 at .377.

Slugging: #1 at .479. The next closest clubs are 34 points behind.

Pitching

ERA: #5 at 3.34. The pitchers are first at 2.86 while the relievers are in the middle of the pack of their NL peers at 4.28 runs per nine innings. Thursday’s game helped bring the two Cardinals groups closer.

Hits: #2 at 92. A by-product of playing more games.

Runs allowed: Tied for seventh at 41. Not bad at all considering the hits allowed.

Walks: Fifth fewest at 31. Very impressive.

Strikeouts: #4 at 72. Not what the staff will be known for, but the youngsters help.

Opposing batting average: #4 at .241. Keeping the runners off base.