Agree that I'd like to see out top 2 spots do a better job getting on base. Had far too many times where Miggy either led off an inning or batted with the bases empty.
As far as the OBP in regards to walks. Some of you guys seem to put more weight in getting on base via a walk vs getting a hit. I just don't get that.
Hits = eye/hand coordination
Walks = plate discipline and strike zone awareness
As a general rule, players with high walk rates generally are swinging at pitches within the zone. Unlike players without. When you expand the strike zone, you are swinging at the pitcher's pitch. Even if you make contact, sometimes it leads to week pop ups or week ground balls.
It also means you are making the opposing pitcher to work. And that adds to pitch counts.
I am not saying those events (week balls in play) cannot happen to good plate discipline hitters, just they happen less often.
Hand/eye coordination deals with being able to square the bat on the ball. A foul straight back means the player was dead on the pitch, just a tad low it goes high. A tad high, it is fouled into the dirt.
Now, it isn't that we are choosing a walk over a hit. Not in the slightest. It is wishing we had players that didn't swing at every pitch thrown.
After the AS break
Avila .201 BAVG .304 OBP
Kinsler .239 BAVG .270 OBP
Avila strikes out a ton, but his percentage of getting on base was higher than Kinsler's this year, since the AS break and 3 out of the last 4 years.
Last 3 years versus RHP
Avila .244 BAVG .351 OBP .410 SLG .761 OPS 7.3 PA/BB 53.5 PA/GIDP .321 BABIP
Kinsler .254 BAVG .308 OBP .399 SLG .707 OPS 16.0 PA/BB 54.8 PA/GIDP .267 BABIP
Considering a team faces a righthanded pitcher 70-75% of the time, and despite his strikeouts, Avila is the better hitter, except in BAVG against RHP. Yet, if you bring BABIP into the equation. It shows that higher percentage of balls that Avila hits into play go for hits. Meaning, they aren't the week popups or week grounders. The AL average BABIP is .296.
Last 3 years verus LHP
Kinsler .311 BAVG .371 OBP .475 SLG .847 OPS 12.5 PA/BB 48.9 PA/GIDP .324 BABIP
Avila .185 BAVG .275 OBP .259 SLG .534 OPS 9.9 PA/BB 30.7 PA/GIDP .287 BABIP
Certainly, Kinsler is the better hitter in this case. However, his walk rate still isn't all that great (slightly better than average) and his BABIP is close to his BAVG (Average is about 30 points higher). He actually grounds into a slightly higher rate of double plays against LHP.
Each stat can show you something. Yes, there are biases in stats. Yes, not all stats are be all end all stats. But they can be informative and shed light on certain things. Walks and/or walk rates can shed a lot of light on what happened and can be predictive of the future.
Kinsler Pre AS Break = 21.1 PA/BB
Kinsler Post AS Break = 30.4 PA/BB
His Pre AS Break walk rate was already below his norm. His post AS was beyond bad. No amount of defense will make up for that. We will see next year, but if the trend continues we will know it is from the organizational change.