Podsednik is bad at baserunning

[greg775]

I really hope ozzie benches nogoodnik tomorrow. He will probably do something else though.

 

Harsh nickname. He has had a great great season though the pickoff thing was really bad.

[nastymasty21]

I hate this thread.

 

Let's not pick on Beckham or Quentin who went 0-fers. Let's pick on teh guy who managed to get on third and had a brain fart. Sure, he was on base twice tonight, with two hits, which is two more than Beckham or Quentin, or 1 more than Rios, Thome, AJ, or Alexei, but let's get pissed at Scott Podsednik.

 

His OBP is only the THIRD HIGHEST ON OUR ENTIRE TEAM of those who played tonight.

 

But screw him. You're right, he's worthless...

 

That was the single dumbest play I have ever seen by a professional baseball player considering the situaton. How you get picked off 3rd is beyond me. The play was not even close. Yes Q went OFer however if Pods doesnt get picked off we are talking about Q with the game winning rbi on that deep fly to center. His baserunning follies continue to happen. At some point youd think he would take a step back and actually think on the base paths.

 

[MattZakrowski]

You don't take rookies who are struggling a little and change your expectations in the lineup. It makes zero sense on a personal level. This isn't XBOX where feelings , emotions and attitudes are negated.

 

Beckham has hit well anywhere in the lineup we've had him, and his plate approach wouldn't need to be changed to lead-off, as he makes good contact and takes pitches.

[scenario]

Random Scott Podsednik Stuff.... an article from Hardball Times

 

"In his last 33 games, Scott Podsednik’s hit .258/.313./341 for an OPS of 653. For comparison, Josh Fields as a year-round OPS of 655 which gives him an OPS+ of. . . . 68. So that’s Podsednik over the last month.

 

In his first 19 games with the team this year, Podesednik hit .268/.303/.324 for an OPS of 627. Based on the OPSs and OPS+s of Ramon Castro and Josh Fields, I reckon that works out to an OPS+ of 61 for Podsednik.

 

In between those two stretches, Podsednik played 36 games in which he hit .340/.401/.455 for an OPS of 856. That’s Gordon Beckham territory right there, for an OPS+ of about 118. So, putting it another way:

 

19 games: 61 OPS+

36 games: 118 OPS+

33 games: 68 OPS+

 

And of course the year before he had an OPS+ of 68 in 93 games.

 

It's a damn good thing for the Sox they just got Alex Rios. They managed to get about half a season of what was overall respectable production from Podsednik (.295/.349/.387 on the year thanks to his hot spurt) without needing to use his season line completely crashed to earth."

[Podsednikintheoutfield]

You can't blame this game on Pods, we had plenty of chances to score early on, 1-14 in the RISP department isn't going to win games. You can't keep blaming Pods for this loss, you need to blame the whole damn offense.

[knightni]

In all my 50 years of organized baseball, that was the single dumbest play I have ever seen by a professional baseball player considering the situation.

[ThunderBolt]

Hopefully, Pods will be making significantly less mistakes in his new role of 4th OF.

[nastymasty21]

You can't blame this game on Pods, we had plenty of chances to score early on, 1-14 in the RISP department isn't going to win games. You can't keep blaming Pods for this loss, you need to blame the whole damn offense.

 

I will blame it on Pods for the following reason; I agree with your assertion that the offense was pitiful with RISP. However, their inability to get runners in are physical errors. In pods example, considering the situation, he has to make sure he cannot get picked off under any circumstance. He is the winning run. I consider that a mental error. And mental errors are unacceptable. Therefore cost us the game

[witesoxfan]

Remember Steve in the world of SABRmetrics, speed is evil because they will not use it properly and will be tempted to do evil things. Since Pods is mostly a slap hitter his OPS will not look good enough in the stat pages to warrant any complements what so ever.

 

Thus the SABRs will always dislike him.

 

I guarantee you that Nate Silver has absolutely no problem with speed. Sabermaticians value speed at face value and view it as a luxury rather than a necessity. He would say that Shane Victorino is one of the best players in the game of baseball today because he hits for average, draws walks, hits for power (36 doubles and triples, 9 homers), steals bases, plays great defense, and has a great throwing arm. Without Victorino's speed, he becomes a relatively average player, because his defense is almost assuredly negated due to his lack of speed.

 

Podsednik is not good because he does not steal bases efficiently, is bad on the bases, and does not use his speed to his advantage, because he is a mediocre defender in LF and is not good in CF. He's a good 4th outfielder who has been miscast as the leadoff hitter of this team.

 

He might be the best the Sox can run out there though, so really, it's all moot.

[GordonNotDavid]

Terrible defensively, worst base runner in baseball and a mediocre hitter at best. This guy is our "MVP", GTFO. He has been picked off 7 times this year and gets picked off at 3rd base with less than 2 out tonight. Pathetic.

 

How the mighty have falled. In 2005, Pods was one of the better baserunners in the game, but now while he's arguably as fast as he ever was, he runs into outs like he's Juan Uribe: Midwest.

 

[qwerty]

How the mighty have falled. In 2005, Pods was one of the better baserunners in the game, but now while he's arguably as fast as he ever was, he runs into outs like he's Juan Uribe: Midwest.

 

Podsednik had 59 stolen bases in 2005 and his 23 caught stealings were six more than anyone else in baseball. His stolen base percentage was 72% on the season. He was picked of a horrendous 14 times that season. In 2006 podsednik stole 40 bases, was caught 19 times, for a stolen base percentage of 68%, and last but not least he was picked off 12 times. Podsednik has not been a threat on the bases since 2004 and prior.

 

Oh ya, forgot to tell you steve, you can still sponsor him for as little as $30.

 

Edited August 14, 2009 by qwerty

[Milkman delivers]

How the mighty have falled. In 2005, Pods was one of the better baserunners in the game, but now while he's arguably as fast as he ever was, he runs into outs like he's Juan Uribe: Midwest.

 

Who was this guy? I notice that he's already banned, so he must've been a former poster who returned.

[NorthSideSox72]

Who was this guy? I notice that he's already banned, so he must've been a former poster who returned.

Brando version eight hundred and four.

 

[greg775]

This isn't XBOX where feelings , emotions and attitudes are negated.

 

I agree. Beckham should stay put in the lineup.

As far as Pods, even if we say he 100 percent cost us the game, he's won us at least five single handedly so he's ahead of the curve.

My only problem with player criticism, is sometimes people forget the player's overall value iin a season. He's been good to very good and I was against bringing him in initially.

I guess as long as a ballplayer keeps raking every night (Pujols, Mauer are close) they are pretty exempt from criticism. There was a time not too long ago Pods was hitting and walking so well he was exempt from criticism. Not now.

Pods made a huge mistake and it cost us the game but how many middle relievers have cost us games this year with their horrific pitching (walks, base hits)?

Edited August 14, 2009 by greg775

[almagest]

I agree. Beckham should stay put in the lineup.

As far as Pods, even if we say he 100 percent cost us the game, he's won us at least five single handedly so he's ahead of the curve.

My only problem with player criticism, is sometimes people forget the player's overall value iin a season. He's been good to very good and I was against bringing him in initially.

I guess as long as a ballplayer keeps raking every night (Pujols, Mauer are close) they are pretty exempt from criticism. There was a time not too long ago Pods was hitting and walking so well he was exempt from criticism. Not now.

Pods made a huge mistake and it cost us the game but how many middle relievers have cost us games this year with their horrific pitching (walks, base hits)?

Those pitchers walking people and giving up hits are failures of execution, not mental mistakes. There's a big difference.

 

[hammerhead johnson]

HE SUCKS

[son of a rude]

HE SUCKS

iawtp

[NorthSideSox72]

HE SUCKS

I am astounded by the staggering profundity of your artfully crafted retort.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Princess Dye]

I'm starting to come over to the oust Pods sentiment

 

 

 

He's been having a great OBP year. Everything else has been suspect of course, as is his way.

 

But now my worries about that high average are creeping up. He's getting a lot of infield hits, which is great...but when we face great teams, especially in the playoffs, we cant count on him being able to poke and slap at some of the greatest pitchers in the game.

 

 

 

We've gotta get Rios a lot of starts, and get him centerfield for all close games by the later innings.

[NorthSideSox72]

I'm starting to come over to the oust Pods sentiment

 

 

 

He's been having a great OBP year. Everything else has been suspect of course, as is his way.

 

But now my worries about that high average are creeping up. He's getting a lot of infield hits, which is great...but when we face great teams, especially in the playoffs, we cant count on him being able to poke and slap at some of the greatest pitchers in the game.

 

 

 

We've gotta get Rios a lot of starts, and get him centerfield for all close games by the later innings.

Oust him?

 

Holy crap people, let's take it easy. With Rios here he will play less, which is fine, but he's still getting on base at a .349 clip, still playing better defense than Dye and possibly TCQ (the latter won't last of course), still has been very clutch in a number of Sox wins, and is still the best leadoff option on the team. He wasn't going to keep hitting .315, we all knew that - he's in a slump. Its really only a concern if he doesn't come out of it.

 

[lostfan]

I'm starting to come over to the oust Pods sentiment

 

 

 

He's been having a great OBP year. Everything else has been suspect of course, as is his way.

 

But now my worries about that high average are creeping up. He's getting a lot of infield hits, which is great...but when we face great teams, especially in the playoffs, we cant count on him being able to poke and slap at some of the greatest pitchers in the game.

 

 

 

We've gotta get Rios a lot of starts, and get him centerfield for all close games by the later innings.

I dunno, I tend to think it's easier to poke and slap at a good pitcher than it is to hit him hard.

[Princess Dye]

He's a good 4th outfielder who has been miscast as the leadoff hitter of this team.

 

He might be the best the Sox can run out there though, so really, it's all moot.

 

FWIW, since all-star break:

 

Pods .288/.333

Rios .266/.315

 

 

 

 

 

That not-so-difficult-to-swallow disparity plus the defense benefits may be enough to get the winds of change sweeping in

Edited August 14, 2009 by Princess Dye

[G&T]

So apparently, as of RIGHT NOW, Boers claims that "his guy" with the Sox says they are likely to re-sign Pods with CQ in right. Figgins is not in play.

[son of a rude]

So apparently, as of RIGHT NOW, Boers claims that "his guy" with the Sox says they are likely to re-sign Pods with CQ in right. Figgins is not in play.

I'd be alright with this, as long as pods just becomes the 9th hitter or something. We all knew it was only a matter of time before pods started performing closer to his career averages. He wasn't going to keep up what he had going.

[greg775]

Those pitchers walking people and giving up hits are failures of execution, not mental mistakes. There's a big difference.

 

I don't know about that. It might be say ... talent?

Linebrink, Dotel, Pena seem awfully mediocre to me. I think Pods does more for the team than those guys. And I know, I know. Dotel has a lot of fans on here.