Derrek Lee Is Not Trying To Suck

Wrigleyville23

July 1, 2008

Derrek Lee Is Not Trying To Suck

5 Comments

Recommended (0) | Share

If your name is Chris and you're sitting in Minneapolis wondering why something happens on a baseball field, do you think the best place to seek answers is with Carrie Muskat?

I'm guessing not, but this Chris from Minneapolis apparently disagrees:

What's the deal with Derrek Lee grounding into double plays so often? We're not even at the 80-game mark, and he has almost as many GDPs as he's ever had in a full season. His current pace puts him around 33, which would be more GDPs than anyone in the National League (at least back to 1933).
-- Chris G., Minneapolis

He's not trying to do it. When asked, Lee said: "It's one of those years -- double play's the thing. I don't know what to do differently. I don't want to strike out. I'd rather hit a line drive in the gap, obviously. I'm just hitting ground balls at the wrong time. I guess that's what it comes down to."

He was asked before Saturday's game, and then went 5-for-5. Lee does hit the ball hard, which results in more double plays.

That is one of Carrie's go-to answers: "He's not trying to." But the fact is he is hitting into double plays. A lot of them. With frequency. Often. At inopportune times.

So what gives? Other than "not trying to," he apparently "hits the ball hard," which leads to a lot of double plays.

Does he hit the ball "harder" than Aramis Ramirez? Unlikely, though he has 19 GDPs to Aramis' five. Then again, the bases are usually clear when Aramis comes up, thanks to Derrek's GDP.

Others have looked into his groundball to fly ball ratio and reached some conclusions. We won't go into it here out of laziness and ignorance - just like the person who answers questions about the Cubs on behalf of the Cubs.

Labels: Carrie Muskat, Chicago Cubs, Derrek Lee

Tags:

Discussion

5 Comments on "Derrek Lee Is Not Trying To Suck"

Posted by <img src="http://www.blogge, July 1, 2008 10:52 AM

The Muskat mailbags and Joe Morgan chats are the biggest wastes of Interweb space.But, without them, I guess there wouldn't be much to do at HJE! and FJM!.

Posted by <img src="http://www.blogger.c, July 1, 2008 11:04 AM

The more I've looked into it, the more easily it's explained. His groundball rate has skyrocketed. In 2005 Lee's G/F rate was 0.98 (using Fangraphs.com numbers) and it was 1.08 each of the last 2 years and it's 1.38 this year. That's a pretty large increase for someone who has been considered a power hitter. Despite his April this season, Lee isn't much of a power hitter these days. His home run per fly ball rate is 16%, which is actually an increase over 2006 and 2007, but a large decrease from 23.7% in 2005 when he had that huge year. In 2007 he had .28 runners on 1st per plate appearance and in 2008 it's climbed to .35 for obvious reasons. Furthermore, his K per plate appearances in 2007 was .175 and it's .153 in 2008. His BB/PA was .109 in 2007 and it's .97 this year.So more baserunners, more ground balls, and fewer walks and strikeouts meaning more balls in play and you've got Derrek Lee threatening to break Jim Rice's single season record of 35 (I believe it's 35). If the Cubs keep on getting on base and Lee's GB rate is for real (these things usually stabilize after 200 plate appearances so it probably is real), he's got a good chance to come close or break the record.

Posted by <img src="http://www.blogge, July 1, 2008 11:33 AM

1. I believe we are right up there in the waste of Interweb space derby.2. A record! We have something to root for!

Posted by <img src="http://www.blogge, July 1, 2008 11:37 AM

Maddog, I really appreciate your fancy book-learned numbers and all. But, I can't help to laugh at myself for having zero interest in them.That's not an insult, it's just my ignorance. Good work, man.WV, if this is a derby, I don't want to be Big Brown. I also don't want to be Eight Belles, either.

Posted by <img src="http://www.blogge, July 1, 2008 1:14 PM

I want to know your Google Image Search keyword(s) for that picture.

MVN: Most Valuable Network

Wrigleyville23

Derrek Lee Is Not Trying To Suck

Discussion

Leave a comment