If you could choose any players you wanted...

#53
#53
After the 2001 season. He got married in 2002 -- that might have had something to do with it, too. He always had a habit of coming into spring training a little overweight, and at some point the weight just stuck to him.

I think he exacerbates it somewhat by positioning himself as though he can still go back and get everything that stays in the park. More balls fall in the gaps than probably would if he'd just back up a few steps.
 
#54
#54
it's dropped by 36 runs and it's been up and down his whole career
It's completely random how many balls are hit to him.

I don't see the drop off

He's struggled at the plate, but he's saved runs on D this year.
He's made a number of plays w/ 2 outs and the bases loaded. That's saving a run per game if you ask me.
 
#55
#55
Jmxvol said:
it's dropped by 36 runs and it's been up and down his whole career
It's completely random how many balls are hit to him.
Click to expand...

Don't look at the 413 his first year in the majors. Look at the 493 his second year, the 439 the next, and the 461 the next. That was his peak, when he was the best CF of the modern era (at least). He hasn't even sniffed a number like that since. I'd wager almost any amount that Andruw will never match that 439 again, even though once upon a time he did it three years in a row.

It's random how many balls are hit to him in a 9-inning game, obviously. That's the sort of thing that tends to largely even out over the 1,500 innings of a season, however. Certainly enough so that you can discern broad trends -- such as catching more than 400 balls in each of his first five years in CF, and then catching fewer than 400 for four years in a row. He's been having a better year this year, and actually has an outside shot at barely making 400 putouts, but he's still going to catch at least two whole games' worth of outs less than he used to.

I don't see the drop off
Click to expand...

Balls get his over his head now fairly regularly instead of twice a year. He still makes spectacular diving catches, but many of them are on balls that he would have coasted underneath in 2001. If you don't see that, then I just don't know what you're looking at.
 
#56
#56
I'm not the only one that's found this stat fishy.
There have been a few national radio hosts tear this whole thing apart.
I'm not saying I'm right or you're right, but it's not cut and dry that he's dropped off significantly.

agree to disagree
 
#57
#57
Sure; we disagree, and that's obviously fine. And as I said, I still like Andruw and part of me hates to think about him being somewhere else next year. But watch him. That's what I noticed before I ever looked at any of the stats. I saw the back of his jersey chasing down balls that had been hit over his head at lot more than I used to. I saw him diving for balls that were hit rather shallowly in the gap rather than back at the warning track. I saw him short-hopping balls that he used to dive for. And when I went to look at the stats, it was obvious that there had been a decline -- not just in his raw fielding totals, but in his range factor as well as some of the other more stat-head defensive stats that VIA mentioned upthread. He's just not making as many plays as he used to.

And look at his offensive stats, too -- triples, doubles, and of course stolen bases. All of those speed-related stats have declined, too, and right around the same period as his fielding stats went down. For whatever reason, sometime in 2001-2002, he apparently lost some speed. Getting older, gaining weight -- that'll do it to you.
 
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