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Tracking Wilkerson's K's

8
Vote

Let me preface this for the naysayers by stating that I am happy to have Brad Wilkerson on the Rangers, and that I think he will turn his season around and be a great contributor to the club. Until then, however, how about having a little fun with the strikeout tear he's started the season on?

Tonight, Wilkerson racked up two more Ks. He now stands with an MLB-leading 23 strikeouts, five more than the two players tied for second place (Adam Dunn and Adam LaRoche). While compiling these strikeouts, by the way, he's compiled a .214 on-base percentage (compared to .415 for Dunn and .320 for LaRoche). Now, I understand the sample size is small. One can hardly expect Wilkerson to continue at this pace. However, if he were to continue at this pace, he would shatter the current single-season strikeout record (195, set by Dunn in 2004) with a mind boggling 287 whiffs.

As I said, he can hardly be expected to continue at this pace, but for now...well, we'll say it's some food for thought.


Date

Sun 04/16/06, 9:18 pm EST

Source

  • MLB stats, sorted by strikeouts via MLB.com
  • Baseball Time in Arlington


Comments

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Anonymous Fanatic #1
1346 days ago
Score 0+-
Wilky sucks.
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ASwaffAll-American
1346 days ago
Score 1+-
I'm not ready to say that he sucks. I don't like how much he's struck out in the past, but you can't argue with his previous OBPs. There's no doubt in my mind he'll be a major contributor to this team, but I'm gonna have fun following his Ks this season.
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DNLLegend
1346 days ago
Score -1+-
A strikeout isn't any worse than most other outs.
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DNLLegend
1346 days ago
Score 1+-
Wilkerson had about 1 K per game last year. Assuming he plays another 130 games and keeps that pace up, he's going to be at 130+23 or about 150 Ks... well short of Dunn's 195. But there is certainly a lot of wiggle room!
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Awrigh01All-Star
1346 days ago
Score 2+-
A K is definetly worse than other outs. If you advance a runner, even in a non sacrifice situation, you increase the probabilty of scoring.
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DNLLegend
1346 days ago
Score 0+-
Yeah, but most other outs don't advance runners, which is why "[a] strikeout isn't any worse than most other outs."
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Anonymous Fanatic #2
1346 days ago
Score 0+-
I agree with Awright. Putting the ball in play with runners on can possibly lead to a double play, but it can also advance the runner, it can lead to an error, maybe a fielder just misplays the ball...there are a lot of scenarios (if runners are on) in which putting the ball in play, even for an apparent routine out, is much better than a strikeout.
Permalink | Reply
ASwaffAll-American
1346 days ago
Score 0+-
Dang, forgot to login! That last comment was mine.
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DNLLegend
1346 days ago
Score 0+-
But it can also lead to baserunning errors, double plays, and other such bad things.
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ASwaffAll-American
1346 days ago
Score 0+-
I mentioned the double plays. And yes, baserunning errors can happen, but more often they just lead to a runner getting one less base than he should have than an unlikely double play. So, I still take the upside of putting the ball in play.
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Awrigh01All-Star
1346 days ago
Score 1+-
I'll take a low K guy any day of the week. Low K batters, who work pitchers, especially. They have longer AB and wear out pitchers another plus.
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ASwaffAll-American
1346 days ago
Score 0+-
Now, that's something I would be interested in. Does anyone have access to, or could they tell me where I could find, some stats about pitches per at-bat? That's something I'd like to see on Wilkerson.
Permalink | Reply
DNLLegend
1346 days ago
Score 0+-
http://sport...layerId=4612 has his pitchers per plate apperance (#P/PA).
Permalink | Reply
ASwaffAll-American
1346 days ago
Score 0+-
Thanks for that, DNL. So, here's an interesting comparison. Wilkerson has REALLY good P/PA numbers. For his career, he averages 4.60 pitches per plate appearance. Take a look at other potential leadoff hitters the Rangers have. Michael Young is the best at just 3.80 for his career. Gary Matthews is just behind him with 3.79, and Adrian Brown comes in at 3.69. Ian Kinsler has an incredibly small sample size, but in his brief MLB career, he's taking 4.31 pitches per AB. And, for further comparison, Craig Biggio, who I'd qualify as a pretty successful leadoff hitter, has never had better than 3.90 in a single season, let alone his career. So, at least in that regard, Wilkerson does his job at the top of the lineup even when he is striking out a lot (he's at 4.23 this season).
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ASwaffAll-American
1346 days ago
Score 0+-
Sorry, he averages 4.28 on his career. I must've gotten some numbers mixed up.
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Bball3345Draft Pick
1345 days ago
Score 0+-
If you look at strikeouts as a whole versus regular outs, there is a slight, probably insignificant, advantage to regular outs. However, if put in context, strikeouts are preffered in double play situations and regular outs are preffered in all other situations.
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