Brooklyn State of Mind: Robins Quietly Trending In Right Direction (2060.7)

[lordtoffee]

With about a quarter of the BBA season done, a lot of people expected that the Robins would have been near the back of the pack. Given the past decade or so, it would have been reasonable. However, the Robins are sitting in a tie for 4th in the Atlantic, and only 2 games back of a wild card spot. There is still a long way to go, but what has been encouraging is that the Robins have been by and large playing about where they should be. The Pythag record is right where the team should be, and the team has been fairly competitive against the Atlantic division as a whole.

The Robins offense has been improved, and it has been more than just the Jorge Cano show. While Cano carried the offense in April, it has been others helping to give the Robins a very balanced attack. Cookie Monster has taken to the leadoff position well, and has hit 11 home runs, all while getting on base. Lawrence Miranda has rebounded from a tough April, and has started to look like he could return to his batting champion form of 2057. Emilio Morales Jr. has been through a lot of bad baseball, but having him hit in front of Cano has given him the protection that he needs to lead the team in home runs, and give him better pitches to hit. But two new bats in particular have been playing well besides Cano to give the Robins some excitement to look forward to. Dom Moore had bounced around the BBA for a while, and was signed by the Robins on a 1 year deal to provide a veteran presence. He has brought an element of speed to the team, having swiped bases at a good clip and given the lower part of the lineup a boost to set the table for the big boppers at the top. Aurelio Gonzáles was a Rule 5 pick, and the young man has given the Robins backstops some better production as a flier.

But the two players who have been the surprises of the season for the Robins have been starters Todd Jones and Tony Bernard. Jones was a part of the infamous 2059 Robins staff that served up more meatballs than some restaurants, but has seen him give the Robins a chance in every game that he has started. Not bad in terms of internal improvements for a guy on the roster, and we shall see if it continues. Tony Bernard has bounced around the Atlantic the past couple of years and was a Rule 5 pickup as the Robins failed to get a few of their pitching targets. Little did anyone guess that he has won more games in six weeks than he had in 2059, and has helped to improve the Robins staff.

The Robins have looked better, no questions about that. But even the most ardent Brooklyn fan would have to agree that the team is going to need serious upgrades on defense and in the pitching staff to give them a chance of making the playoffs this year. There are no expectations on the Robins this year, and what they have done the first month and change has been good to see.

[recte44]

Gotta fix that defense, though. Someway, somehow.

[BaseClogger]

Custello completely fell off and is no longer a big leaguer. He doesn't have a position.

[aaronweiner]

The biggest difference has been that nearly every big Brooklyn player has achieved above previous career averages. This is either a new normal for them (possible) or Brooklyns in for a big correction.

[Trebro]

The biggest difference has been that nearly every big Brooklyn player has achieved above previous career averages. This is either a new normal for them (possible) or Brooklyns in for a big correction.

I am hopeful for Ben that this is their new level and not a temporary deviation from the mean. My biggest concern was that his players, frankly, hadn't played well, something I'm all too familiar with.

If they can keep it together and keep it up, the Robins should be buyers and take advantage of what could be career years.

[ae37jr]

The biggest difference has been that nearly every big Brooklyn player has achieved above previous career averages. This is either a new normal for them (possible) or Brooklyns in for a big correction.

I disagree....


-Miranda is hitting 70 points lower than his career average
-Prito is 65 points lower than his
-Cano and Morales are pretty much in range of career numbers
-Trujillo is in second season. This could be his new normal, who knows

The only one playing way over his baseball card is Don Moore. And I personally think he was a great signing because, unless stadiums have changed since I was there, Brooklyn, CCJ, and Jax are all great parks for big left handed power hitters. So I'd expect a career year from him

[aaronweiner]

The biggest difference has been that nearly every big Brooklyn player has achieved above previous career averages. This is either a new normal for them (possible) or Brooklyns in for a big correction.

I disagree....


-Miranda is hitting 70 points lower than his career average
-Prito is 65 points lower than his
-Cano and Morales are pretty much in range of career numbers
-Trujillo is in second season. This could be his new normal, who knows

The only one playing way over his baseball card is Don Moore. And I personally think he was a great signing because, unless stadiums have changed since I was there, Brooklyn, CCJ, and Jax are all great parks for big left handed power hitters. So I'd expect a career year from him

We talking about the same Emilio Morales? Because he's got a .928 OPS this year which has raised his career mark to .775 - that's not even close to the same player. It's 5-10% better than his best seasons so far and his best in years. Again: this is not impossible, but it's happening. Also, Trujillo is up from a .870 OPS to a 1.000 OPS. Impossible, no, but it's happening, and it puts him amongst the top ten hitters in the BBA.

This makes them two of the top 30 players in the BBA right now and if we restrict it to right-handed hitters it's basically two of the top fifteen righties. Again, I'm willing to allow for this being real if it is, but it's new.

Moore is notably over his marks because he's hitting .343, but he's a good player. We could have made a pretty good argument over whether Morales was. And Cano's been fine, yes, which is good because that was highly in question before the year, and he's cooled off significantly after a very hot start.

As for the others...Prieto has been lumping, and Miranda had a .2 WAR in 600 at bats last year, so he's not really big in my considerations, his ISO is higher, and the batting average will come. And the others have been good enough that they've offset whatever small losses these two were likely to have.

Maybe it's real. Maybe it's not. And with all of this they're one game below .500 this year.