Okay, offense may be down a touch across the BBA, but that doesn’t mean certain hitters aren’t feared beyond others. There’s Kwakou, right? And L’Arch? Names like Horrible Simpson and Ernest McBride come to mind. Those guys are at the top of the HR charts, anyway, so they much be the most feared hitters in the league, right?
Well, sure.
Or not.
I mean, here’s another interesting piece of data—which hitters get intentionally walked more than any other?
That’s a sign of respect, right? Just take the bat outta the guy’s hand, I say.
So, just which hitter has been given the old four finger salute more often than the rest? Well, let’s see.
All total there have been 21 hitters who have been walked at least Of those, 17 of them have been given the free pass to first either four or five times. These guys are:
| Batter | BatTeam | IBB |
|---|---|---|
| Stewart Illingworth | ATC | 5 |
| Grant Lee | CHI | 5 |
| Juan Karyabwite | CLG | 5 |
| José Zúñiga | JAX | 5 |
| Juan Donéstevez | NO | 5 |
| Pedro Guzmán | PHX | 5 |
| Masaki Sato | VAN | 5 |
| Fernando Castillo | VAN | 5 |
| Millard Younger | ATC | 4 |
| Carlomaria Donadoni | EDM | 4 |
| Júlio Uribe | JAX | 4 |
| Girolamo L'Archibudelli | LV | 4 |
| Manobu Shimizu | MAD | 4 |
| Donald Miller | OMA | 4 |
| Ramiro Hernández | PHX | 4 |
| Aaron Haney | VAL | 4 |
| Luis Maldonado | WIC | 4 |
Okay…here’s the thing about this measure: as fun as intentional walks are to look at, perhaps they don’t show so much respect to the guy getting walked as they do disrespect to the guys behind them. Maybe. This is my version of choose your own adventure, though. So, what the hell.
We see L’Archibudelli on the list, and Donald Miller—who has received three passes while on the Cyclones and another while with Loserville.
Carlomaria Donadoni. Aaron Haney.
Yeah, respect or not, there are some pretty good hitters on this list.
Still, there are four more to go through, so let’s raise the stakes a notch.
#4 – Juan Rivera (Atlantic City)
That’s right, The Gamblers are holding three of a kind as River has been walked seven times so far this season. Rightly so, too. The two-time Sawyer Silk winner is having another sterling season with 35 homers and a .3011/.390/.607 slash. He’s already registered 5.7 WAR, and looks to have his name in the hat for a Silk trifecta.
His last intentional pass was against Wichita, with two out in the top of the tenth and a runner on second. The ploy worked, too. Until the Gamblers won the following inning, anyway.
#2/3 – Dennis French (Boise)/Javier Rodriguez (Yellow Springs)
Well, here’s a name that maybe you weren’t expecting. I know I wasn’t—thought to be clear, Rodriguez is having a great Sophomore season after stumbling a bit as a rookie. The YS9 DH has dropped 24 homers on the opposition, and has used his plate discipline to get on base at a more than healthy .361 clip.
His last intentional walk was an odd, but effective one, coming in the top of the seventh with a runner at first base, the Vancouver Mounties walked Rodriguez with one out, despite the base not being open.
The move didn’t set up a platoon advantage, but did allow the club to face Jesus Rodriguez, who struck out, and then Abdeljilill Sediki, who hit into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
Dennis French is, of course, Dennis French. I’d be willing to bet that if folks were asked to give five possible answers to this question off the top of their heads, Dennis French would be in that list for a vast majority of the cases. And the bottom line is that French is doing what French does, but maybe at a gently subdued level based purely on the de-juiced ball we’re all using. He hasn’t quite matched that 70 doubles from last year (yes, folks that seven-zero), but at 36 two sackers, 15 homers, and a .315/.362/.519 slash, you can see why he’s on the list again.
French’s last intentional pass came in an interesting way. In the bottom of the ninth, with a runner at first, a steal and an error put that runner on third. So, with a full count, the Blazers walked French intentionally to set up a double play. It didn’t really work, though, as Ricardo Ruiz hit a sacrifice fly, scoring the run.
So this brings us to the top dog…the guy pitchers have passed along the most often.
Is it Kwakou?
No.
#1 – David Simpson (Sacramento)
The Mad Pope Horror has been walked nine times intentionally, which makes total sense when you note he’s sitting at 36 homers and a .310/.410/.649 on slash. At 5.6 WAR, the one-time GIlstrom winner and two-time Puckett nabber has his hat in the Sawyer ring again this year.
His last intentional walk came in a game against Hawaii, and was, perhaps generated by strategic decision. With the game tied in the top of the 9th, and Simpson having an at bat with runners at first and second, the Mad Popes put on the opld razzle-dazzle, dropping a double steal that left a base open. With a 2-0 count, the Tropics decided to walk Simpson…thereby avoiding his bat and making the strategy of stealing the base seem … well … odd.
Of course Luis Gonzalez followed it up with a grand slam homer, so one suggests that maybe what works out is all good.
# # #
So, what have we learned?
Well, mostly we learned the Ron will do just about anything to avoid finishing any "real" writing, eh? Of course some of us--Ron specifically included--already knew that. So, really this is just a refresher for that one.
I suppose I could go through all 381 intentional walks that have been handed out by BBA pitching staffs through the year so far, and try to suss out how well these decisions are being made. I mean...that would be fun, wouldn't it?
Or at least time consuming!
