Yuniesky Betancourt Is Doing Really Well
by Jeff Sullivan on Apr 22, 2009 10:46 AM PDT
in Seattle Mariners Stats
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Yuni makes Jeter look like Ozzie.
And I’m not even talking about Guillen.
You... yer a bunch of bloody magicians.
Fans are typically idiots.
by The Typical Idiot Fan on Apr 22, 2009 2:33 PM PDT up reply actions
Another good side-by-side would be Bartlett's play up the middle last night.
Beltre smoked a ball over the 2B bag and Bartlett still ranged over and threw him out. But these two gifs you present certainly tell the real story of how far Yuni has fallen defensively. It makes me sick to watch plays like this. Cedeno needs to begin taking time away. And I would argue Cedeno’s bat is better, too.
That's Washburn's fault for not getting a K.
Yuni’s magical combination of bad positioning and skulking is despicable.
I'm usually not that big into the
“OMG Yuni isn’t trying hard!” argument because I have no opinion nor insight into how hard Yuni is actually trying, but doesn’t it look like Yuni could have laid out for that ball and maybe got a glove on it? I understand when a 3B gives up on a ball that is absolutely scorched 2 feet to their left, but that was not a hard hit ball at all.
My five-year-old gets to the one on the left.
And I’m only being slightly sarcastic.
Throw the snacks in the bag and I'm ghost like Swayze!
Preserved In All His Greatness - R.I.P. The Reignman 1989 to 1997
My other question is this?
Why the hell is Yuni so shaded to third base when we have The Beltre over there?
Throw the snacks in the bag and I'm ghost like Swayze!
Preserved In All His Greatness - R.I.P. The Reignman 1989 to 1997
You mean...
One without him jumping up and spinning in the air?
by SebastianPruiti on Apr 22, 2009 11:41 AM PDT up reply actions
My hypothesis?
As a child he wanted to be a Ballarino but his father forced him into Baseball.
Fear the NPE
Bigger!
My ancient eyes can’t handle watching video on a postage stamp…
This signature space for rent.
That Burrell play is far worse.
It’s more slowly hit, and it actually bounces off the side of the mound TOWARD Yuni.
Was he giving Beltre highlights? Was he hanging out on a cruise ship dock? Where the hell was he?
I like using semi-colons; they make me feel smart.
I agree.
I can’t figure out for the life of me why he is positioning himself to far towards third. It almost looks like he is avoiding having to make plays up the middle for some reason.
"Fights begin, finger prints are took, days is lost, bail is made, court dates are ignored, cycle is repeated."
He just hates Ichiro so much he tries to stay as far from him as possible at all times.
Jose Lopez roxxorz my boxxorz.
54!
The question is...
Is it really a matter of poor skills on Yuni’s part if it was just a matter of positioning?
It looks like (in both of these gifs) he had a huge amount of ground to cover to get back to these balls. It seems likely that Yuni isn’t playing way into the whole on his own initiative. I think defensive alignment is something coaches have to bear the responsibility for.
In one of those gifs 'he' is Derek Jeter
Derek Jeter has no range.
by Graham MacAree on Apr 22, 2009 1:37 PM PDT up reply actions
I would say it's both
He’s definitely less agile than he used to be.
by Jeff Sullivan on Apr 22, 2009 1:41 PM PDT up reply actions
Look at Yuni's Batting Average
That’s why he’s in the lineup.
Whoa
That’s crazy. Thank you. Where do you find things like batting average?
by Graham MacAree on Apr 22, 2009 1:37 PM PDT up reply actions
This may be interpreted in two ways.
1. “Yuniesky Betancourt’s high batting average means the media will jump all over Wak if he benches Yuni, however atrocious Yuni’s defense and however hollow his batting average (which is an extremely poor stat for evaluating a players offensive contribution.”
2. “Yuni’s a great hitter because he’s hitting over .300. You are silly for wanting to bench him. Defense doesn’t matter because you can’t win if you don’t score runs.”
Which one comes closest to the mark, Mr. Nutz?
First, I'm not supporting Yuni in the lineup.
Second, the point of my post was to put, admittedly, very simply why even after Yuni is so terrible he keeps getting the start at SS when there is an easy replacement on the bench in Cedeno. And when you consider that only two people on the entire M’s roster hit above .300 (and their names are not Ichiro or Beltre), the bigger concern for the team as a whole is not Yuni’s defense but rather the lack of runs produced by the offense. It would seem Wak is sticking with Yuni because he’s hitting right now. Why bench a guy who’s hitting when the rest of the offense is going dormant? I would be willing to bet that if Yuni were hitting .250 or something he would be benched much more than he is now.
by deeznutz on Apr 22, 2009 3:50 PM PDT up reply actions 3 recs
I rec'd this just because it was a way more lucid response then I was expecting.
Jose Lopez roxxorz my boxxorz.
54!
Although that's a fair reason.
I don’t think that’s THE reason Yuni’s still in the lineup. I mentioned not too long ago that I wasn’t surprised to see Yuni still in the lineup because there was no real indication that they were going to take action against him. The new staff is still working with him so he’s going to get some more leeway. Plus, his errors were made during a game where Wak says the overall team focus was disappointing.
The staff knows what they have in Yuni. They’re going to do as much as they can before they start taking drastic measures.
I remember an interview in which Wak said:
he’ll give Yuni some lattitude to do it his way… but if he struggles, he’ll need to try being more patient/selective at the plate or else ride the bench. Since Yuni is batting .326 (even with an OBP of… also .326) Wak is probably going to back off and give him credit for being a productive bat. Wak has to pick his battles… and he’s going to win this one if he waits until Yuni is hitting .280 (with a .280 OBP)
Wait a minute, "extremely poor?"
I understand that there are much better ways to evaluate a hitter, but to say that batting average shouldn’t be factored into whether a player starts seems a bit much.
Fear the NPE
At one point this year Junior was hitting something like .180/.400/.450
Should we have benched him?
by Graham MacAree on Apr 22, 2009 5:36 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
How many strikeouts did he have?
St. Louis Cardinals... defying win expectancy since 2008
by vivaelpujols on Apr 22, 2009 10:59 PM PDT up reply actions
Well, if he continues to do so...
then, yeah, he’s a below average defender at a premium position who can hit like an average MLB player, which makes him a +2-3 wins above replacement player. But, and this is the really important part, he will not continue to wOBA .330, and our point is merely academic.
I think +2 to +3 at .330 wOBA is generous, isn't it?
if his defense is UZR 150 -15 or so, like last year, that makes him a +1 player, I think.
Average hitter at SS gives...
0 runs for hitting, 7.5 runs for position, and 20 runs for replacement
0 UZR = +2.75 wins
-7.5 UZR = +2 wins
-15 UZR = +1.25 wins
---
Juuuust a bit outside!!
http://www.rightfieldbleachers.com
Or, you could just extrapolate that he's been worth
~.1 WAR so far and the season is about 1/15th over, so multiply 15*.1 and get ~1.5 WAR
by seattlebruin on Apr 22, 2009 3:38 PM PDT up reply actions
I remember watching the game at work during that play and thinking
Hey, slow ground ball, Yuni should have that one…..ball slowly rolls into the outfield……goddamnit you fat fuck.
You can't hide from the omnipresent eye.
Yuni reminds me of Roger Dorn in Major League
Lou Brown: Come on Dorn, get in front of the damn ball! Don’t give me this “olé” bullshit!
This makes me think of Yuni, from the google ads:
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Takes some real Gumps to drag an average down that far.
by Jordan of Boise on Apr 22, 2009 5:52 PM PDT reply actions
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