Pearly Gates is...Quick ReferenceRecent postsLinksRichard's other blog:Hall Of Fame:
The "Real" Media:
Halosphere:
Minor League Affiliates:
Other Baseball Blogs:
Other Random Crap (in a good way):
Soccer:Archive
Blog*Spot ArchivesContactRichard Ceccarelli Josh Mandir |
Tuesday, June 01, 2004The day of redemption is at handOK Bart, this is where you live up to your end of the bargain. Your last start showed signs of improvement. Your control was back, and you had good life on your fastball. Now put it all together and take back your status as a number one, or I shall taunt you a second time. I fought for you, man- don't let me down. I will be attending tonight's game between the Angels and Red Sox and will have a full write-up when I get home. It features many interesting story lines (other then Colon's immanent return to dominance) including Raul Mondesi's first start in center field for the Halos, and my first chance to see the Greek God of Walks. On the Mondesi front: I was quick to label the plan to let Mondesi play center a downgrade defensively, but looking over the stats it appears as though I may have been wrong. The Angel's center fielders have collected a woeful .861 zone rating this season. Meanwhile, the last time Mondesi played center field on a regular basis (1998 with the Dodgers) he managed a .886 zone rating. While that's still not so hot, and he's surely lost a step since then, his current zone rating can't be any worse than Garret Anderson's .763 mark this season. Here are the current Range Factors (RF) and Zone Ratings (ZR) for the Angel's center fielders:
There's really no way to accurately predict what Mondesi's numbers will look like, but I doubt they will slip down to Anderson, or even Figgins, territory. If I had to make a guess, I'd say his zone rating will be something around .850, but that's just a shot in the dark. He's probably downgrade from Jeff DaVanon (yes, Jeff DaVanon may be the best center fielder on our roster. Yet another reason he's going to be a star...) but not much of one. On the Kevin Youkilis front: John Sickels' latest "Down on the Farm" is a write-up on everyone's favorite star of Moneyball. Go check it out. |
