Mookie Betts appreciation thread
- Thread starter Sandy Leon Trotsky
- Start date
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Oh and yeah... this is what makes this site transcendent in the mosh pit of the inter tubes.
I came here a long time ago when G38 first showed up... thanks Google. And for well more than a decade I’ve been treated to truly some of the best message boarding in the history of the universe!
Hey mods, can we change the thread title to “Mookie Betts Sploogefest” just for old time’s sake?
I understand this idiom can be used both ways, but given it’s more common meaning, I’m not sure that was the correct choice for an optimistic post.
That being said, I tend to agree with what I think you’re getting at, that Mookie isn’t taking it personally, simply as business.
I'm really enjoying the love for this place. "anti-facebook" as one member called it.
Keep up the good work, peoples.
Second the bolded. Threads with the current type of name are generally for people who have (gasp) left Boston teams. GASP!
For those still wondering if the Mookmeister will be moved in the order, Cora answered this way just now on EEI. "He'll be in the leadoff spot the rest of the season."
You are absolutely correct; I think I may have always used this the wrong way.
If you don't understand irony, sure.
One way or another, Mookie seems cool with things. And the important thing is Mookie being happy while on the Red Sox.
Forever.
Did you just hack my fucking pho577 /sn 864-530-9999 bday 2014- bank account neutral-tinder = banned
In the unfortunate circumstance where I need to reference it in a real-life-conversation, my go-to description is a "small, members-only Reddit, originally centered around discussing the Red Sox, but with a whole heap of scope creep"I'm really enjoying the love for this place. "anti-facebook" as one member called it.
Keep up the good work, peoples.
Thankfully, it's a minimal audience for that message, mostly considering of enlightened folks to whom I need to explain my in-depth yet-nuanced takes on the Koren Penninsula situation. Thanks, @SeoulSoxFan, for providing that veneer of sophistication to my game.
Mookie now leads the league in WAR (2.5), wRC+ (234) runs (33), HR (12), ISO (.480!), BA (.370), slugging (.850), OPS (1.299), total bases (85), and barrelled balls (20).
He's also:
-3rd in OBP (.449, leader is .456)
-2nd in doubles (12, 1 behind the leader)
-8th in RBIs (25, 5 behind the leader)
-10th in K% (11.0%, leader is 6.0%)
Also, amazingly, his BABIP is only .325, which is *significantly lower* than his batting average of .370, which is crazy. To put that in perspective, JD leads the league with a .440 BABIP. Considering how much Mookie is murdering the ball (he and JD have very similar hard contact rates), it's possible that he's actually been slightly unlucky on balls in play.
He's also:
-3rd in OBP (.449, leader is .456)
-2nd in doubles (12, 1 behind the leader)
-8th in RBIs (25, 5 behind the leader)
-10th in K% (11.0%, leader is 6.0%)
Also, amazingly, his BABIP is only .325, which is *significantly lower* than his batting average of .370, which is crazy. To put that in perspective, JD leads the league with a .440 BABIP. Considering how much Mookie is murdering the ball (he and JD have very similar hard contact rates), it's possible that he's actually been slightly unlucky on balls in play.
If the bottom third of the Sox lineup hadn’t been leading the league in suckitude, his RBI number would assuredly be higher.
The reason his BABIP isn't higher is that he's terrible when he hits the ball to the opposite field - the vast majority of the balls he hits that way are soft or medium contact flyouts - whereas JD Martinez is a much more balanced hitter who hits the ball with authority to all parts of the field. What makes Mookie so good is how successful he is at avoiding doing what he's bad at.
Mookie and J.D. have very different batted ball profiles so far--Mookie has an 18/30/52 LD/GB/FB compared to J.D.'s 20/48/32. Since FB have much lower BABIP than the other two types, it makes sense for Mookie's BABIP overall to be much lower.
According to xstats.org, Mookie has actually been slightly lucky on balls in play; his xBABIP is .319 (real .325) and his xOBA is .494 (real .525). Much of the difference so far has come in the form of three extra doubles, so I suspect that "lucky" here may just mean "lucky enough to be a RH flyball pull hitter who plays half his games at Fenway."
Mookie has 13 strikeouts.
And 13 walks.
And 13 home runs.
It's unreal to have the same number of homers as Ks. Hard to believe it will stay this way, as he's had 82, 80, and 79 Ks each of the past three seasons, but man, if it ends up even close, that would be DiMaggio-esque.
And 13 walks.
And 13 home runs.
It's unreal to have the same number of homers as Ks. Hard to believe it will stay this way, as he's had 82, 80, and 79 Ks each of the past three seasons, but man, if it ends up even close, that would be DiMaggio-esque.
Albert Pujols was similar at his peak too. In 2006 he hit 49 HRs and had 50Ks. Mookie's K rate is a little too high though to threaten that. He needs to lower it to around 8%.
FWIW, MLB pitch velocity is up about 1.5-3.0 mph across the board since 2006, with some variance for pitch type.
I’ve been trying to come up with the right historical comp for Mookie’s skill set and have been stumped. Don’t laugh, but is it a young early 90’s Barry Bonds?
The numbers may play out but they’re too different in height and frame.
Hard to make any historical sense out of a .490 ISO, but if we’re gonna make a grandiose comp from here, Kirby Puckett or Mel Ott make more sense to me.
Not really talking measurables but overall 5 tool abilities. Bonds was an incredible defensive outfielder which many people forget (Bream throw notwithstanding).
Not quite DiMaggio-esque. Joe averaged 34 strikeouts per 162 games (I know he played in the 154 game/season era). Mookie’s on pace for 66 per 162. Williams averaged 50 per 162. All super.
My grandfather is a reformed MFY fan whose childhood coincided perfectly with Mantle's career. The way he talks about Mantle is, I imagine, pretty close to how I will talk to my kids/grandkids/dogs about Mookie.
It's not that I hate the comp, but it doesn't work when Mantle's actual exact genetic clone is playing in Anaheim at the same time.
That said, it ain't easy to find decent historical comps for Mookie. Steve Garvey? Mel Ott? Rogers Hornsby?
B-ref suggests: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sizemgr01.shtml
But if he has a breakout year at 25, I'm thinking this looks good: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bondsba01.shtml
I prefer this comparison... not that these things really matter yet given Mookie's short career so far.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/snidedu01.shtml
Mookie:
now holds the record for fewest games played to reach four three-HR games (534). The previous record was 701, by Johnny Mize.
has hit 11 home runs in his last 14 games. He is the only Red Sox player in history to homer 11 times in a span of 14 or fewer games.
25 of his 38 hits are for extra bases, including 13 of his last 15, and each of his last 6.
leads the majors in home runs (13), extra-base hits (25), runs scored (34), average (.365), slugging (.856) and OPS (1.298).
is the fastest Red Sox hitter to reach 25 extra-base hits since (at least) 1908.
tied Fred Lynn (1979) for the most home runs in the Red Sox's first 32 games of a season.
89 total bases are the most by a Red Sox hitter through 32 games since Jim Rice had 96 in 1978. (Rice set the team record with 406 total bases that season.)
34 runs scored through 32 team games are the most by any Red Sox hitter since Johnny Pesky in 1946 (35).
has 13 home runs, 13 walks, 13 strikeouts.
has five home runs and zero strikeouts in his last 12 plate appearances.
29 runs scored in April set an American League record for that month. The only hitters with as many runs in April since 1900 are Bryce Harper (32 in 2017) and Larry Walker (29 in 1997). (Note: Many seasons did not begin until early or even mid-April.)
has played in 28 of 32 games this year. That percentage (87.5%) works out to 141.75 games in the regular season. If my math is correct, Mookie is currently on pace to hit 66 home runs (actually 65.8).
Mookie (2,422 PA, 4 three-homer games)
Hank Aaron & Babe Ruth (24,564 PA, 3 three-homer games)
...
And some people claim Judge is The Face of Baseball?
now holds the record for fewest games played to reach four three-HR games (534). The previous record was 701, by Johnny Mize.
has hit 11 home runs in his last 14 games. He is the only Red Sox player in history to homer 11 times in a span of 14 or fewer games.
25 of his 38 hits are for extra bases, including 13 of his last 15, and each of his last 6.
leads the majors in home runs (13), extra-base hits (25), runs scored (34), average (.365), slugging (.856) and OPS (1.298).
is the fastest Red Sox hitter to reach 25 extra-base hits since (at least) 1908.
tied Fred Lynn (1979) for the most home runs in the Red Sox's first 32 games of a season.
89 total bases are the most by a Red Sox hitter through 32 games since Jim Rice had 96 in 1978. (Rice set the team record with 406 total bases that season.)
34 runs scored through 32 team games are the most by any Red Sox hitter since Johnny Pesky in 1946 (35).
has 13 home runs, 13 walks, 13 strikeouts.
has five home runs and zero strikeouts in his last 12 plate appearances.
29 runs scored in April set an American League record for that month. The only hitters with as many runs in April since 1900 are Bryce Harper (32 in 2017) and Larry Walker (29 in 1997). (Note: Many seasons did not begin until early or even mid-April.)
has played in 28 of 32 games this year. That percentage (87.5%) works out to 141.75 games in the regular season. If my math is correct, Mookie is currently on pace to hit 66 home runs (actually 65.8).
Mookie (2,422 PA, 4 three-homer games)
Hank Aaron & Babe Ruth (24,564 PA, 3 three-homer games)
...
And some people claim Judge is The Face of Baseball?
Here's the list of guys who meet the following criteria: through age 25 season, >80 HR, >80 SB, <400 K, >200 BB:
Mookie Betts
Willie Mays
Mays was a significantly better player than Mookie, of course, as good as Mookie is--mostly, he had more power, along with even better BB/K ratios. But they do show some similarities, which extend to their small stature (both 5-10), jaw-dropping defense, and ability to connect with fans and media.
As I think I've said before, a good conservative comp -- it seems silly to say 'downside' about a guy with over 50 WAR -- would be the underrated (or at least under-remembered) Vada Pinson, another under-6-foot outfielder with medium-range power, great speed, good BB/K, and excellent defense. In fact if you imagined Betts' career as the midpoint between Pinson and Mays, that wouldn't be a bad upside projection.
Mookie Betts
Willie Mays
Mays was a significantly better player than Mookie, of course, as good as Mookie is--mostly, he had more power, along with even better BB/K ratios. But they do show some similarities, which extend to their small stature (both 5-10), jaw-dropping defense, and ability to connect with fans and media.
As I think I've said before, a good conservative comp -- it seems silly to say 'downside' about a guy with over 50 WAR -- would be the underrated (or at least under-remembered) Vada Pinson, another under-6-foot outfielder with medium-range power, great speed, good BB/K, and excellent defense. In fact if you imagined Betts' career as the midpoint between Pinson and Mays, that wouldn't be a bad upside projection.
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HOW IS MIKE TROUT NOT THE FACE OF BASEBALL? HOW IS MIKE TROUT NOT THE MODERN-DAY MANTLE? YA'LL ARE SOME EAST COAST BIAS M*****F******
P.S. go celtics.
P.S. go celtics.
*taking this unduly seriously*
He’s been hurt by the fact that the Angels were boring. The Angels are more interesting now; maybe he’ll have a higher profile as a result.
Honest question...when was the last time the face of baseball came from out west? First I guess we need to figure past faces of baseball but I'm seriously trying to figure out who was the last west face.