I put this together because I was curious, and since I have a blog, I figured I’d share it with people who may or may not be interested as well.
These are the hitting stats for the 7 Phillies regulars who have participated in each of the last 3 post-seasons. Obviously there is at least 1, hopefully 2 games left this year, but like I said, I was curious. I sorted by OPS.
Now I was also curious how their OPS would compare to their regular season. Here are the rankings based on who has hit better, or worse, than average in the playoffs.
1. Carlos Ruiz (0.685 OPS in regular season 2007-09, 20% increase in playoffs)
2. Jayson Werth (0.870 OPS regular season, 19% increase in playoffs)
3. Shane Victorino (0.792 OPS regular season, 11% increase in playoffs)
4. Chase Utley (0.931 OPS regular season, 1% increase in playoffs)
5. Ryan Howard (0.928 OPS regular season, 2% decrease in playoffs)
6. Pedro Feliz (0.701 OPS regular season, 12% decrease in playoffs)
7. Jimmy Rollins (0.796 OPS regular season, 14% decrease in playoffs)
#’s 6 and 7 are big reasons for my “sign Chone Figgins to replace Feliz at 3rd and Rollins at the top of the line-up” campaign this winter.
In Rollins’ defense, his regular season OPS was heavily influenced by his MVP year OPS, a season in which the Phils only played 3 playoff games.
The Chone Figgins thing is a enticing and simultaneously dangerous proposition. While it increases the teams talent on paper, dropping rollins in the lineup (6th or 7th?) has intangible ramifications that could be very negative to team chemistry. And I think we all agree that the chemistry on this team makes them a cut above. It is why everybody can pick Colorado and the Dodger to win “on paper” but it doesn’t pan out that way. I think it only works if you drop rollins to the 2 or 3 hole and that doesn’t make sense. I don’t think offense is the issue, even with Rollins shortcomings at leadoff. Our pitching has bee the issue. We need to upgrade the pen and Hamels need sto figure it out or we will need a new starter to be contender worthy. If we had our pen/Hamels from last year I think we are up 3-2 or have already closed it out. the real weakness is our pitching. Next year we will have Lee, Hamels, Happ, Blanton and Drabek/? which should be fine to win the division, but unless Hamels is back to all-star form it probably isn’t good enough to win a title. When next year starts, all eyes are back on Hamels, to see if we will need another deadline deal.
if it would be a problem, you can keep Rollins in lead-off and hit Figgins 2nd, moving Victorino down to 7
bullpen needs to be addressed – I think there will be 4-5 spots open. 2 should be filled, IMO, by Bastardo and Mathieson.
Mathieson closer? I would like chone on the team it would make this lineup even more solid 1-7 and I feel ruiz is going to have a breakout year next year. I think a good alignment could be worked out.
A little premature…
Pete, you think Park has a shot to return to the pen? I don’t see any team in the bigs giving him a shot to start. Also, how much you think Figgins would cost us? You think they give him something like Raul’s 3yr/$30 mil? More?
haha – very premature – and it’s very possible Chone re-signs with the Angels right away.
Park could return – provided he’s not delusional enough to think he’s still a starter. I’d certainly welcome him back.
Not sure what Chone would cost… he was pretty bad in 2008 before being fantastic this past year. $10 mill a year seems steep. Not sure I would do that.
Without knowing what he is demanding, I’d say something like 3 years, $25 or 4 years, $32
for what it’s worth on the Figgins money.
<<It’s very unlikely that the Twins will factor into the race for Chone Figgins at all. Figgins, 31, is expected to be one of the more sought after position players on the free agent market. Many clubs have struggled to find a solid leadoff hitter like Figgins and his skills as a super-utility guy only help increase his value. There have been some estimations that Figgins could possibly receive a five-year, $50 million deal on the market. That’s not the type of money the Twins will be looking to spend on an infielder this offseason. – MinnesotaTwins.com >>
KB-
Thanks for the info. That’s waaayyyy too much for me. Both on years and per year.
Hopefully that’s just what his agent is throwing out there.
Pete,
Just out of curiousity, if I’m not mistaken (might be), you made a comment the othr night that questioned McCarver’s comment that Whitey Ashburn was the most popular athlete in Philly history saying you weren’t sure you’d agree with that. If that’s all fairly accurate, who would you say? I have yet to come up with an alternative. I can’t even come up with anyone close.
I didn’t really say he was wrong – I just wouldn’t have thought of Whitey first. He said it was “inarguable” which I thought was a little strong.
Certainly my generation would have other options as we only heard him on the air for a couple years, if that. But with the city as a whole, it’s certainly possible.
I’ll keep it here rather than go back to Game 5 chat.
Charlie just did an interview of close to 15 minutes on XM Radio.
Didn’t specifically say Shane is playing. Sounded optimistic. Pulled him the other night because Shane told him he was fine, but told Lopes he couldn’t throw. Said he wants Shane to look him in the eye and tell him he can play. I cannot imagine Shane not playing if at all possible based on that. Personally, I think its borderline critical he play.
On Hamels, and I quote, out of context that it is…”Hamels mental toughness is off the charts.” They talked for 15 minutes per Charlie after Game 5. Charlie could say one thing publicly of course, but having heard the interview, my impression ws Cole gets the nod tomorrow night based on that. And with Charlie’s unshaken confidence, for what that’s worth.
Charlie did say that the only pitcher he won’t use tonight is Cliff. Whether that means he might use Blanton or Hamels for a given matchup, I don’t know.
Charlie also said that Ryan’s problem is concentration, he’s not following the ball. Course I’m sure he’s told him that at least 3 games in a row or so, but Ryan was slow to kick in in last year’s Series, and this series is just getting started.
I never had the privelege to see Whitey play. Started following the game in the 1960 World Series. Not that the time frame qualifies me as an expert, but I find McCarver’s use of the word inarguable appropriate on the subject of Ashburn being the most popular Philly athlete ever. Just my opinion.