Byline: Max Offen Sichtlich
Off Topic
Result of Mid-Season Moves Inconclusive
October 1, 2055
When we last checked in, the front office of the Sacramento Mad Popes was busy tooting their own horn about the string of moves they made to totally revamp the offense, including the acquisition of third baseman Tsuyoshi Kobayashi and the signings of Bob Dempsey, Curt Lehmnan, and Lee Stone.
Individually, they seem to have done the trick.
Kobayashi has hit only .221 since becoming a Pope, but he’s added a team-high 15 homers to slug .477, putting his OPS+ at 102, which is a positive. If he hits for any average in the post-season, that’s a win.
Dempsey hads a horrendous start, but rebounded to finish at .274/.332/.462, including 9 homers. His August was good, his September was a blazing hot (.312/.371/.531), with 9 doubles and four homers Likewise Lehman finished at an eye-popping .419/.446/.774 slash against primarily left-handed pitching, and Stone rang in at .309/.379/.418 against similar handedness.
The problem, of course, is that no one really cares about individual performances.
And when you look at the numbers in the big picture, the question gets muddier.
Here’s some data:
| A | M | J | J | A | S | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runs | 102 | 149 | 129 | 84 | 134 | 115 |
| Games | 25 | 29 | 27 | 25 | 29 | 27 |
| Runs/Game | 4.08 | 5.14 | 4.78 | 3.36 | 4.62 | 4.26 |
Bottom line—it’s clear the team flagged in June, but the improvement in August and September doesn’t make one’s heart go pitter-patter. Late-season Pope was better than April Pope, but not as good as May of June Pope.
Of course, when you’re dealing with the Sacramento park, you have to break things down a little more. So:
| A | M | J | J | A | S | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | ||||||
| Runs | 50 | 42 | 49 | 60 | 46 | 69 |
| Games | 12 | 7 | 14 | 18 | 14 | 16 |
| Runs/Game | 4.17 | 6.00 | 3.50 | 3.33 | 3.29 | 4.31 |
| A | M | J | J | A | S | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Road | ||||||
| Runs | 52 | 107 | 80 | 24 | 88 | 46 |
| Games | 13 | 22 | 13 | 7 | 15 | 11 |
| Runs/Game | 4.00 | 4.86 | 6.15 | 3.43 | 5.87 | 4.18 |
This doesn’t really shine a lot of light on the situation, though we’ll note that the 6 runs/game the team saw at home in May was buoyed by the massive value of small sample sizes and the arrival of the Valencia pitching staff in the Basilica. Likewise, the team’s June boost on the road would have significantly decreased if it weren’t for a 19-run Pope outburst while in Valencia. Take that game away, that their 6.15 runs a game on the road drops to 5.08—still good, but nowhere near as eye-popping. And doing that makes the team’s 5.87 R/G road August their best performance of the season.
Grouping them in two-month chunks maybe makes things better?
| A-M | J-J | A-S | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runs | 151 | 213 | 249 |
| Games | 54 | 52 | 56 |
| Runs/Game | 2.80 | 4.10 | 4.45 |
| A-M | J-J | A-S | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home | |||
| Runs | 92 | 109 | 115 |
| Games | 19 | 32 | 30 |
| Runs/Game | 4.84 | 3.41 | 3.83 |
| A-M | J-J | A-S | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Road | |||
| Runs | 159 | 104 | 134 |
| Games | 35 | 20 | 26 |
| Runs/Game | 4.54 | 5.20 | 5.15 |
Bottom line, I don’t know. The moves probably helped. I suppose it’s a fine hair to split, but in general offense is up in the Summer Months, and barring the Valencia Effect, that was hard to seen in the Popes’ performance. Things do seem workable, though.
So we’ll see what happens in the postseason.