Comments on: Life To Flying Things

By: bookbook

bookbook — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 03:40:05 +0000

Any chance Gutierrez needs glasses?

By: joser

joser — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:26:55 +0000

I still haven’t gotten used to Gutierrez being out there in center. I’ve already lost track of the number of times this season an opposing hitter has put a charge into a ball and I’ve thought (or said) “Crap!” as they show the ball flying into the outfield and it looks like an obvious gapper going for extra bases. And then as it falls towards the fence Guitterez magically appears in the frame, looking almost leisurely as he intercepts the ball along the most direct route possible. I got so used to seeing those balls fall in with no Mariner uniforms anywhere nearby, and it still freaks me out how fast and seemingly effortless he is out there.

Of course the speed is real but the effortlessness is an illusion. He’s going flat out (if you noticed that shot of him on the bench after the catch last night, he was puffing hard) but he’s a lot like a giraffe, which don’t seem to go that fast either until you get close. Those long legs (and the lack of herky-jerky Ibanezesque knees and elbows) make him look like he’s not going fast, but he’s covering a lot of ground.

I know, this post is about his hitting and the mystery of his peek-a-boo power. But I’ve got nothing to add there. I’d love to see him hit dingers regularly, and I have no idea why he doesn’t, but I’m just really happy to see him out in the field every inning.

By: Russ

Russ — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:49:17 +0000

Was anyone else purturbed that Franklinâ€™s catch wasnt on ESPNs â€œtop playsâ€ last night

It was an amazing play but it looked easy. If he’d gotten his uniform dirty, he’d be on the reels for sure. WFB.

By: Red Apple

Red Apple — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:05:41 +0000

My first thought was…as a righty, is Safeco killing him? But his OPS at home is .827 and .547 on the road; and an even more dismal away ISO of .098. Granted, this is only 215 PAs this year.

His BABIP at home is .407 and .226 on the road.
Are his hits at home dropping in front of outfielders who have him positioned poorly?

Whatever the case, that bomb last night sure would have flown out of Safeco.

By: Hdizz

Hdizz — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:36:25 +0000

[ot]

By: nfreakct

nfreakct — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:34:53 +0000

This seems like one of those instances where something like Hit/FX could provide us with a clearer idea what’s going on with Gutierrez. A quick glance at Fangraphs shows that he’s not exactly getting screwed over in a lot of the advanced batting metrics so he’s not necessarily getting unlucky (with the exception of maybe his HR/FB ratio).

So yeah, here’s hoping maybe with a few tweaks we can see Franklin using his power a bit more often. Not that’s he’s isn’t awesome already.

By: aaron c.

aaron c. — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:13:29 +0000

Having said that, so what if he doesnâ€™t hit as many dingers as we would like.

Yeah, wanting the Mariners players to be as good as they can possibly be is pretty stupid.

Anyways, I think it’s encouraging that his LD% is higher than it was in 2007 or 2008. Less encouraging is that his HR/FB rate in 2007 was double his career norm, but at the same time I find it hard to believe that Gutierrez’s true talent level as a power hitter is ~Bengie Molina.

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:56:46 +0000

Uhh…

Come back, good commenters. We miss you.

By: jbetzsold

jbetzsold — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:55:17 +0000

Some players simply never come into what they could be. The word potential is way over used. Having said that, so what if he doesn’t hit as many dingers as we would like. I saw a catch of his earlier in the year in which he tracked the ball and caught it over the fence as he was flying into the fence. Clearly an ability to keep track of multiple obsticles at one time. This team is multiple parts short but it is as heady as the days of him who shall go nameless(Pat Gillick).

By: justme

justme — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:35:24 +0000

Props to Aardsma as well, whom little has been said about thus far. Another good pick up by Z.