Thursday, June 14, 2012

I hate it when this happens

We’ve discussed BABIP a lot on this blog.  Mostly, I’ve used it for pitchers.  Well, it does apply to hitters too.  Let’s take a look at the Cards shortstop Rafael Furcal.  First off, the Cardinals have been struggling mightily since Mid-May due to, in no small part, a lot of injuries they weren’t expecting to deal with, and the fill in guys just aren’t that good.  This is causing the need for some players, like Furcal and David Freese, for playing more games without a rest which with spotty injury histories is going to drag them down a bit.  With that said, back to Raffy.

Through April of 2012, Furcal had a BABIP of 364 (slash line of 315/384/427).  In May, he had a BABIP drop down to 358, but his numbers stayed high because he started hitting for more power (349/397/486).  Now, in 12 games this month he has a BABIP of 136, with a line of 140/170/200.  Career wise, he has a BABIP of 313 and now for the year he has a BABIP of 315.  At some point he was bound for a stretch like this to make things even out.  He’s gotten on base once in his last 5 games.  It’s a big reason for the Cards struggles.  Raffy hasn’t had much in his tank this month.  He could probably use a day off or two soon.

That’s all for now.  More snarkiness to come soon.  Or more analysis.  Haven’t decided what’s more fun to post on here.

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