That's What Cheesehead: 36.36 - Blame it on the O

[7teen]

Earlier I looked into whether Recte's claim that Madison's low MO pitchers were the cause of Madison road woes that had the team currently playing 7-21 baseball away from Shotz Stadium. While some of the arms showed they were better at home, I don't think enough evidence was really there to support that claim. Of the 14 pitchers we use on our staff, only half of them are better at home meaning 50% of them are just as good on the road. So if it isn't the pitching's problem, then perhaps it's the offenses', right?

Madison has been pretty dreadful on offense this season which has only been more problematic in recent sims with the injury to Mons Raider (.302/.405/.380, 1 HR, 12 RBI). The Wolves built a new stadium last season that everyone assumed would hinder power but reward hits and speed. So has Madison's construction of a team allowed it to be some odd juggernaut at home while being completely neutralized away from it? Let's break down the early season stats of the main starters and see.

Pos Name AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SF SH HP AVG OBP SLG OPS

C Katzenbogen
Home 62 17 4 0 1 9 8 4 21 1 3 0 .274 .313 .387 .701
Road 48 7 5 0 0 5 2 4 18 1 0 1 .146 .222 .250 .472

C Martinez
Home 27 10 2 0 2 6 7 5 7 0 1 0 .370 .469 .667 1.135
Road 50 6 1 0 1 3 3 2 16 0 0 0 .120 .154 .200 .354

1B Mick
Home 110 45 6 0 7 27 16 8 12 1 0 1 .409 .450 .655 1.105
Road 108 27 6 0 12 30 19 8 29 3 0 0 .250 .294 .639 .933

2B Thealer
Home 91 19 4 1 0 8 18 17 12 2 1 4 .209 .351 .275 .626
Road 90 20 4 1 0 4 14 18 13 1 0 1 .222 .355 .289 .643

SS Kouda
Home 69 25 3 0 0 8 11 4 12 0 1 0 .362 .397 .406 .803
Road 81 12 2 2 1 5 5 8 21 1 2 0 .148 .222 .259 .481

3B Burrell
Home 57 18 1 1 1 5 7 3 11 0 1 0 .316 .350 .421 .771
Road 39 5 1 0 0 2 0 2 8 0 0 0 .128 .171 .154 .325

LF Robinson
Home 74 14 0 0 2 8 6 5 7 1 1 0 .189 .237 .270 .508
Road 57 16 4 0 3 13 10 13 8 0 1 2 .281 .431 .509 .939

LF Beaucage
Home 34 6 0 1 0 5 5 5 6 0 0 1 .176 .300 .235 .535
Road 39 10 1 0 0 1 4 4 5 0 1 0 .256 .326 .282 .608

CF Machiavelli
Home 67 21 4 1 1 10 12 3 10 0 0 2 .313 .361 .448 .809
Road 51 8 2 0 0 3 2 2 8 2 0 0 .157 .182 .196 .378

CF Moreno
Home 60 11 1 0 1 7 5 2 13 2 1 0 .183 .203 .250 .453
Road 81 19 3 2 3 8 7 9 22 1 1 3 .235 .330 .432 .762

RF Dempsey
Home 110 31 6 0 0 11 14 3 9 1 4 0 .282 .298 .336 .635
Road 104 36 8 1 0 9 16 10 13 2 1 0 .346 .397 .442 .839

So yeah, a lot of numbers. Let's break it down the simple way first and see who is just better where. There are 11 regulars listed here. 6 of the 11 prefer to hit at Shotz Stadium by the numbers while 5 prefer the road. So just that alone may tell you there's no correlation. But....

The six batters that prefer hitting at Shotz Stadium (Mick, Katzenbogen, Martinez, Machiavelli, Burrell, and Kouda) are doing it by an extremely wide margin. All 6 of them have a home average well over 100 points higher than their road average and in some cases as much as 200 points higher. Mick, arguably our best hitter by a wide margin, is hitting 159 points better at home than on the road. While he hits more homeruns on the road (as many indicated he would with our new ballpark) he's slugging 16 points higher AT HOME than on the ROAD.

Of course on the flip side of things, the one that really stands out to me is Steve Dempsey. The guy chasing a potential hits record, one would assume he'd tear Shotz Stadium a new one with base hits galore. But thus far this season, he's been better away from home! In fact, in 6 fewer at-bats on the road, he's still tallied 5 more hits. And then there is Robinson, a guy who is more prone to draw a walk. He has drawn 8 more walks on the road that at home despite 17 fewer at-bats.

So where am I going with this? I don't know. Perhaps I'm searching for answers as to why Madison has just stunk on the road. I think there is a little more support to the fact our offense has not been as good on the road as opposed to blaming the pitchers. I think that is supported by the fact that 5 of these guys have averages below .200 on the road. So here is what I'm countering Recte's argument with....

Guys with low MO may struggle some in ball parks but it's not the reason for Madison's poor road record. I think the correct blame is this:

Guys with 5-7 contract ratings may be able to survive in Madison's ballpark and make a career, even with a lower power rating, but if Madison wants to win on the road, those guys with ratings below 7 in CO had better have some more pop in their bat if we plan to win away from Shotz. In other words, a Niccolo Machiavelli (7/6/3/6/7 Ratings) or an Oliver Burrell (6/6/4/5/7 Ratings) may be ok in Madison's new "base hit" friendly ball park, but these band boxes outside of Madison are for the big boys and these boys just can't hang.

[RonCo]

Among the problems with worshipping at the altar of movement is that every problem begins to look like a movement problem.