Now that a month has passed, let's take a look back at what's gone wrong (and a few things that have gone right). First, a look at the batters. Here are the regulars' current slash lines, wOBA, BABIP, and preseason projected wOBAs. I'm only doing Johnson and Mather because they've picked up the most PAs of the bench guys, and …
When will we see Brett Jackson and Anthony Rizzo?
Everyone here has heard of a Super Two player. Here is the necessary criteria for becoming a super two: at least 2, but less than 3 years of service time with at least 86 days of service in the immediately preceding season. In other words, someone who has 42 days of service one year and 44 days the following year …
National League Power Rankings, 4-28-12
At the beginning of March we did a pre-season NL power rankings and plan to do this every few weeks once the season starts. DJ is taking part in these now too so there are 5 really smart and knowledgeable people. These are probably the most accurate power rankings you'll ever find. You shouldn't even question them since they are …
Ask OV: Because We Had a Day Off and We Haven’t Done This For a While.
Many of you might have been asking, "Hey! What happened to my favorite new feature on Obstructed View? When the hell are they going to do another Ask OV?" Some of you might have been hoping that we never do another stupid Ask OV post again. Most of you probably didn't even think about Ask OV since the last time …
Ramblings about strikeout rate and the silliness of pitchers batting
A few days ago Rob Neyer pointed out how three true outcomes (TTO) are increasing and wonders if something should be done about it. For those who don't know, the TTO is a walk, strikeout or home run. It's most of the plays that don't require the involvement of any fielder. Everyone knows that strikeouts have increased over the years. …
Wood to the DL, Dempster had an MRI, Sveum concerned about lack of home runs
I really don't know why this is news at this point, but Kerry Wood has returned to his home on the disabled list. Here's a news headline for you: Kerry Wood is healthy. Seriously, it's like his 97th time on the DL. Below is a pie chart showing the amount of time Wood has spent "healthy" compared to days on …
Jeff Samardzija is a better pitcher
I wasn't buying it, but I'm now convinced that Jeff Samardzija is indeed a better pitcher. Samardzija had not started since midway through the 2010 season when he made 3 starts. He had a 6.19 ERA in those 3 games. Compare that to the 5.71 ERA he has through the same number of games this season. Much to my surprise, …
Marlon Byrd is not a .091 hitter, and other observations about slumps and trade value – UPDATED
We're all disappointed by the production so far of many of the Cubs offensive players, most notably Marlon Byrd and Geovany Soto. Byrd has a wOBA of .091 on the season, and Geo has a .232 wOBA which looks much better by comparison (still not great). The slow starts for both players have led to much complaining on the hypertweetoblogosphere …
Cubs Dynamic Pricing Probably Not As Dynamic As They’d Like
I've been keeping an eye on the Cubs' bleacher ticket prices for a little over a week now because I got curious about how their dynamic pricing model is actually working out for them. Previously, I had hypothesized that overall revenues would not be taking so much of a hit, because the Cubs would be selling some high profile games …
What can we expect from Starlin Castro on defense?
Starlin Castro has not been a good defensive shortstop to this point in this career. His career UZR is -11, his DRS is -15 and his Total Zone (TZ) is -27. His 60 errors since 2010 leads all MLB players. Ian Desmond is close at 58, but has played a little more than Castro. Those two are nowhere close to …