FanPost

The Outfield Dilemma: Sixth Weekly Update

Denis Poroy

Is it just me, or is Bud Black just trying to make it harder for me to write these posts. eight different players have started a game in the outfield in the last fifteen days, so it's getting pretty hard for me to judge who's an outfielder and who isn't, thanks Buddy, I love you. The Padres were hot, going 6-2, but then lost three of out of four to the Cardinals, putting them at 7-5 for the two week stretch. Also during this stretch, the Padres DFA'd one outfielder, Jeff Francoeur, but are about to get the suspended Cameron Maybin back.

The starts breakdown (not including game vs Dodgers):

Smith-9

Venable-7

Liriano-6

Almonte-6

Solarte-2

Medica-2

Francoeur-2

Amarista- 1

So... um... ya, I think I can explain this. Smith doesn't play against lefties, neither Venable or Almonte should be everyday player, so Bud just flips a coin, Liriano didn't get called up until last week, but I can't really explain why so many different players in the other days.

Will Venable: He had a .333 OBP in 33 plate appearances, including one extra base hit, and six walks, raising his OBP and BB% to .289 and 7.1% (A ONE PERCENT INCREASE), respectively. Don't worry though, he's still Venable, he struckout nine times last week, which still somehow lower his strikeout rate by almost a percent and a half. His defense, while still great, isn't as good as it usually is, currently with a .921 RZR, 16th in the league for outfielders with his amount of innings or more.

Seth Smith: Seth had another great stretch, further cementing the fact that his extension was a good idea. In 37 plate appearances, Smith had eleven hits, including a homer, a triple, and four doubles, and also walked seven times, raising his OBP ten points to .394, 89 points higher then anyone else on the team! His BB% increased .6% to 13.3%, 5.6% above league average, he only struckout twice, improving his K% .7% to 16.2%.

Cameron Maybin: Suspended, coming back tonight.

Carlos Quentin: Injured, likely until the end of the season.

Abraham Almonte: Despite splitting his time with Venable, Almonte still got 27 plate appearances, in which he got six singles, a home run, and a double, but also struckout five times. For the year, his major league triple slash (OBP/SLG/OPS) is .278/.352/.630, which are all below league average, his K% is at a really bad 31.5%, but it's a small sample, and his two year Triple-A K rate was at a significantly lower 18.6%. His walk rate has also taken a pretty big hit in the majors, dropping 6% from 10.9% to 4.9%, but he's young and should get some AAA playing time once Maybin comes back.

Rymer Liriano: Because his sample size is so small, I'll include yesterday's game against the Dodgers in his stat-line. In 30 plate appearances, Liriano has five hits, including this monster, five walks, and a sacrifice fly (which I now know counts in his OBP), putting his OBP at .367. At his sample size, I won't talk about strikeout and walk rates yet.

Hunter Renfroe: There's no past fourteen days split on Baseball-Reference for minor league players, but in the last seven days, Renfroe got on base six times, in 23 tries, with no homers, and only one double. His OBP has now dropped from .319 to .292, his slugging percentage is at .347, and he hasn't hit a home run since July 27th. :-(

Previous Updates

Fifth Weekly Update

Fourth Weekly Update

Third Weekly Update

Second Weekly Update

First Weekly Update

Revisited


This FanPost was written by a member of the Gaslamp Ball community and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Gaslamp Ball staff or SB Nation.